Hilary

August Photo Challenge

Pow! Here it is, your August Photo-A-Day Challenge.


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For those of you unfamiliar with the Photo A Day Challenge, I’ve provided you with a list of prompts or suggestions for each day of the month. On the designated day, you snap a photo of the suggestion or a photo of your interpretation of the suggestion and post it to Instagram. You can add a caption to your photo, as well as the hashtag #hilarywithonel so we can keep up with you. If you input #hilarywithonel in the Instagram search box, you’ll be able to see what others have already posted.

Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day. It’s just a fun way to be creative. No penalties for missed days, and no prize for hitting all the days – well, satisfaction is a prize in and of itself right?

Snap on, my friends, snap on.

IN: ON: July 31, 2013 TAGS: 30 day, instagram, photography, photos, pinterest BY: Hilary

Just Cause

The other day, as I was ferrying groceries from the car to the kitchen, from the kitchen to the pantry and from the kitchen to the upstairs, I started thinking about the cycle I’ve found myself in. I don’t get political on my little piece of the blogosphere. I don’t raunchy, get up on a soapbox, beat my chest or tear my clothes. I keep things light and entertaining.

I have, in my possession, more than a little bit of useless information that will serve me well on Family Feud or Jeopardy one day. I put the well-being of myself, my husband and children at the forefront, making sure that everyone is well fed, well-groomed and well mannered before setting them free into the world. I find, though, that there’s a little flame sputtering inside of me, gasping for some air so it can blossom into something more. That little flame is a desire to be fully invested in a cause, a campaign, something that is permanent and worthwhile. Something that has some weight behind it.

I can remember reading various magazines that profiled everyday people and celebs who, after being faced with a serious disease, become champions for awareness and eradication of said disease. Call me a cynic, but if they never fell ill in the first place, would they have come to be such a supporter after all? Through my membership in various organizations, I’ve given money, time, and energy to the March of Dimes, CASA, Heifer International, and Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. Thankfully, my family — nuclear and extended — has been healthy. The biggest challenge we’ve faced so far is a bout of contact dermatitis and while we’ve worked through it, I’m not called to be the face of prevention and care.

I do want to invest in something, though. I want to roll up my sleeves and become fully immersed in a subject and the ways volunteers can spread the word about it. Maybe because I recently re-wrote my will, I started thinking about my legacy and I want it to mean something.

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I saw the above quote while trolling through tumblr one day and felt like the words reached through the screen, wrapped themselves around my heart and squeezed really, really hard. I try to be a role model for my children, for my friends children, for my friend even. I don’t set out to do it every morning, mind you. I just do the best that I can with what I’ve been given. I’m fallible. I make mistakes. I snap at my kids, let my husband make is own dinner, and eat Cookie Butter right out of the jar with my fingers. Yeah, really. But I keep coming back to this flame flickering inside of me, this urge to want to do something, learn something, embrace something that gives me a sense of satisfaction that I’m not getting right now. I know that I’m capable of great things. I do great things every day. I also know that I’m capable of something more. I just have to find out what it is. I am desperate to know, because I truly want someone to look at me and say, “Because of you, I didn’t give up.”

There had been an article in Real Simple (my go-to mag) about how to ensure your charitable contributions are actually received and disseminated to their intended recipients. When you see things about sending five cents for clean water, or 20 cents a day feeding a hungry child, how do you really know where your money goes?

The real question is, what do I feel passionate about (clearly it’s not grammatical correctness)? The usual suspects when it comes to charity and volunteering boil down the these:

1. Environment
2. Arts & Culture
3. Hunger
4. Education
5. Children and Families
6. Grassroots Initiatives (which I had to look up because it was SO not what I thought it was)
7. Animals
8. Health
9. Water and Sanitation
10. Disaster Relief

They’re all important. I can tie to myself to any and all of them, no matter how thin the thread. Which of them, though, is the one that speaks to me? Which of them is the one that will reach out and squeeze my heart so that I will give, participate, and not give up?

If there is a cause that speaks to you, please share it in the comments.

IN: ON: July 29, 2013 TAGS: growing up, life, sharing, thoughts BY: Hilary

recipes

Recipe Friday

Is it Friday already? Is it Friday already? What a difference intonation makes, right? In the summer, the days roll together like puppies playing in the grass. I find myself checking the calendar as if there is some kind of special delineation between summer week-days and summer week-ends. When there isn’t any activity planned, there’s no delineation whatsoever.

Like I said before, we have finished shuttling to and fro between camps and activities this summer. We are taking each day as it comes, making plans as it suits us. Today, we hit the Y, the playground, came home for lunch and are just lounging about. Ideally, I’d be in the hammock in the backyard, dozing as the girls played on the swing set, but seeing as we have neither a) hammock or b) swing set, I’m sitting here at the dining room table while the girls slog through their tutoring. Yes, I’m the mom that makes her children do math over the summer. That’s why my kids will be the boss and the others kids will be desk jockeys. I kid. . .or do I?

The promise of some screen time (laptop, DS, TV, whatever) dangles in front of them, the fattened worm before their gulping guppy mouths. I’m buying myself 30 minutes of solitude to catnap, read a bit, put more things in my Zappos shopping cart or any combination thereof. I’ve tried to entice the girls with Popsicles and the sprinkler, but if it’s not a regulation sized, chlorine filled pool with accompanying snack bar, they want no parts of it. Sure, we hit up the pool pretty regularly at the beginning of the summer and they’ve been fortunate enough to have had my brother take them just about every day during our visit to his house. The downside is, now that we’re home and with really nothing to do but go to the pool, I can’t do it. I’m about a month post-tenolysis surgery and despite my speedy recovery, the doc gave me a no go on chlorine for the foreseeable future.

This sucks for several reasons.
1. Swimming laps twice a week was really becoming my jam and not being able to do it is frustrating.
2. The girls really want to be at the pool and swim. I want them to become better swimmer and being landlocked isn’t helping their skill-set.
3. While I could take them to the pool, who the devil wants sit and watch while roasting rotisserie style on the deck, unable to cool off?

4. Hiring a sitter to take them to the pool or to stay at home with V while I take them to the pool is both expensive and still, not a lot of fun (see #3).
5. While the beach is an option, it, too, has it’s fair share of con, not limited to, but include sand in the cracks and crevices of the baby’s legs and in my healing incision. Not going to the Vineyard this year hasn’t been lost on the girls, either. They’re quick to point it out whenever someone else mentions their plans for going to the beach. I’m actually surprised as how much I’m missing the beach myself, long drive, ferry crossing and all.

So, we’re here in the house, with me extolling the virtues of the sprinkler and them shooting it down at every turn. They’ll consider the pop-jets at the mall, but only if they can have dinner out. The negotiations that I endure just to make it from lunch time to dinner time alone are staggering. We continue our back and forth, I dig up some water balloons. They’re promptly filled and thrown in the time it takes me to clean up the mess from filling them up in the first place.

So, back to my bag of tricks. Out come the crayons, paper, scissors, stamps and ink. They cut and paste, color and doodle. They move onto the library bag and I find them with their limbs artfully draped over the back of the sofa and the arm of the chair. The baby is sitting in the laundry basket surrounded by stuffed animals, her mouth furiously worrying her pacifier as she squishes a stuffed dog to her chest. All of a sudden, everything is calm and simple. Everything is quiet save for the turning of pages and the soft sucking on a plug.

Is it Friday already? Is it Friday already? I hadn’t even noticed.

Seeing as we aren’t beach bound this year, I thought I’d leave you with a very summery, beachy recipe. Happy Friday, y’all!

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Firehouse Crab Boil
recipe found here

Note: We used a 60-quart aluminum pot with a strainer insert and did this over a propane burner outdoors. You could probably get away with a pot slightly smaller, such as a 45- or 50-quart pot, as we had about six inches of headspace left in ours. This is definitely doable indoors, but you may need to do it in two large pots on the stove and it will probably take quite a while for the pots to boil.

Ingredients

3 to 4 cups crawfish, shrimp and crab boil seasoning (recommended: Zatarain’s powdered form, NOT liquid or bag versions)
3 lemons, halved
2 or 3 large onions, halved
5 heads garlic, cut in 1/2 crosswise
2 dozen live blue crabs
6 pounds new potatoes
4 ears fresh corn, shucked, silk removed and cut in 1/2
3 artichokes, stem end trimmed cut into halves or quarters
2 pounds smoked sausage
1 package hotdogs
1 pound mushrooms

Directions

One day before you plan to boil the crabs: If you have a heatproof, submersible vessel that will hold 1 or 2 gallons of water that may be frozen, fill these with water and freeze until frozen solid.

In a very large (40 to 60-quart) pot combine the crab boil, lemons, onions, garlic, and 6 gallons of water and heat over high heat, stirring, until the powdered seasoning has dissolved. Add the crabs, potatoes, corn, artichokes, smoked sausage and hotdogs. (Everything should be submerged in liquid – if not, add a bit more water to cover.) Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Cook at a rolling boil for 6 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the mushrooms. Cover the pot and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the frozen vessels to the hot crab boil and stir occasionally very gently to facilitate even cooling. This will prevent the crabs from overcooking and will also force them to absorb the seasoning from the crab boil. Let the crabs sit in the water for at least 1 hour before serving. You can let the crabs sit until completely cool, if desired, or you can serve the crabs warm.

Using tongs or strainers, carefully remove the crabs from the pot along with the onions, garlic, potatoes, corn, artichokes, sausage, hotdogs, and mushrooms and spread out on large platters or on newspaper lined tables for folks to enjoy.

IN: recipes ON: July 26, 2013 TAGS: baking, cooking, food, om nom nom, pinterest, recipes, summer BY: Hilary

Homestretch

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Thirty-three days.
One month and two days
4 weeks and 5 days. 792 hours.
47,520 minutes.
2,851,200 seconds.

All of our scheduled activities are behind us. The remainder of summer stretches in front of us, a distance speck on the horizon that comes closer with every passing day. I can clearly recall the beginning of summer lumbering toward me like a bristling, tusked wildebeest. Now, here I am, with the better part of the summer behind me, wondering where it all went.

There were camps. There were visits to the grandparents. There were those two weeks of recuperation from tenolysis surgery where I ended up doing less convalescing and more running interference between the children. There was the week to myself while the girls were away, followed by several days of foolishness with my brother.

We had swim team. We had play dates. We went shopping. We went to the library. We went to the fountains at the mall. I wrote. They colored. The TV was on and the gaming system put to use. I followed my own advice and said “yes” to the things that were fun, that I would really enjoy doing with the kids and “no” to the things that would require more of me than I was willing to give.

I want our summers to be spent at the beach, dashing to and from the surf, our noses peeeling, our bodies a chestnut brown and smelling of sunscreen and sunshine. I realize that sometimes it can’t always be that way, so you make the best of what you have and plan for the future.

Ultimately, summer is not about how much you can cram into your days so when the first day of school comes around, you can crow about how busy you’ve been. There’s no prize for filling up your summer with camps and activities, unless you count fatigue. I don’t. There were days and I’m sure there will be a few more, when I reconsidered my stance on having the girls go to camps. Then there were other days when the planets aligned, and I was more patient. The girls responded in kind and that made for wonderful times.

My oldest spent the better part of the summer asking me what comes next, what comes next, what comes next. Finally, I told her that it was frustrating for me to be harangued like that. I explained that sometimes, I didn’t know, or sometimes I’d rather not say for fear of the wrath of disappointment that could follow. I don’t know what comes next between now and the first day of school. Probably more of what we’ve been doing — library, pool, visiting family and such. Maybe we’ll go to the zoo or Maymont. Maybe we’ll play with some friends at the playground. Maybe we’ll all take naps (yeah, right!). I’m not worried about it, though. The next day will come and we’ll keep on going strong all the way through to the end of the season.

IN: ON: July 24, 2013 TAGS: activities, life, summer BY: Hilary

Inside the God Box

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On the 14th, the photo-a-day challenge word was “love”. Rather than snap a photo of my family or some bacon, I decided to share a more personal representation of love. Above is a box of love notes that I have written to my daughters over the years.

Now, before you string me up as an over-achieving super mom (not that there’s anything wrong with that), let me say that I can’t take credit for this project. It was something that I decided to do after reading an article in Real Simple Magazine entitled “Inside the God Box“.

In the article, author Mary Lou Quinian relates how her own mother began a tradition of placing petitions to God in an ordinary trinket box. Any concerns, pleas, requests for help, guidance or faith all went into the box, often times written on “any old piece of paper—the back of a receipt, a torn paper towel, or a while-you-were-out slip sufficed”. The petition would be dated and inserted into the box. What began in the late 1980s with one box blossomed into 10 boxes bursting with notes by the the time Quinian’s mother passed in 2006.

Quinian didn’t realize how fully invested in the box her mother was, chalking it up to her mother’s strong Catholic upbringing, until she discovered the boxes, brimming with nearly every concern and care she and her brother shared with her mother over the years. Reading Quinian’s words about her mothers constant thought for the well being of her children, her husband, family, friends and even strangers plucked something inside of me. When I first read this article several years ago, I was probably trying to do my best to be the mother that my girls deserve. Parenting is a fluid experience; what works one day probably won’t work again tomorrow. There are highs and lows and while you are in the thick of it, you wonder if you’ll ever return to some semblance of normalcy. Someone once told me that with parenting, the days are long, but the years are fast. At the time, I scoffed it off as some ol’ empty nester regret, but I now know how right that person was.

I want for my children to have wonderful life experiences that shape them into outstanding young woman and citizens. My greatest fear is that my children will look back on their childhoods and say, “My mom always said ‘No'” or “We never really did anything outside of school, sports and Kumon.” Sure, I want for our family to have adventures and make memories that spawn inside jokes and impromptu re-enactments. I also want for them to have good manners, well rounded educations, and all the bits and pieces that will serve them well in life. What I don’t want is for the fun times, the love that I have for them, the pride that I have for them to get lost along the way.

Enter my version of the “God Box”. I took the lead of Quinian’s mother and just started writing love notes to the girls whenever I thought to do so. Whenever I would “catch them doing good” as the phrase goes, I noted it and put it in the box. Then life got in the way. I don’t know where or when or how I fell off. I just did. My box sat in the closet for months, then years. It moved with us from Norfolk to Richmond. It moved from my closet to my office. From my office in plain view to my office cabinet. And then, I pulled it out and decided, I needed to write some notes. Should I bang off a few and post-date them? Should I write an apology note to each of them for not sticking with it, as I encourage them to do when facing a new venture? I pulled out a pad of patterned scrapping paper and some markers and got to work. I ended up reminding them individually of how much I love them. I wrote out my prayer for the health and well being. I wrote about my pride in their recent accomplishments. I wrote about how I’ve noticed that the days are long but the years are fast, especially when we’re all fitted snugly in the rock-a-bye chair. I wrote and I wrote, maybe a dozen little notes in all in one day.

I capped my markers and flipped my pad closed, placing them all in my work-bag so that they are never far from hand. As for the box, I’ve left it out on my desk with the lid off. It’s a reminder to fill it up with notes of the good things all around me, especially when the days seem long.

IN: ON: July 16, 2013 TAGS: instagram, life, my girls, photography, photos BY: Hilary

July Photo Challenge

Two weeks into the month and I’m only now getting around to putting up the photo-a-day challenge for the month. Let me clarify, it’s been up on Intstagram, but I was remiss in putting it up here. So, here’s the challenge:

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This is a big Tiffany & Co. box that I am trying to fill with love notes to my three daughters, a project that I started several years ago. That’s a post unto itself, but this photo is my interpretation of love.

So I challenge you to participate or check out my posts on tumblr (http://hilarygrantdixon.tumblr.com/).

Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day (or 14 because I’m a delinquent). It’s just a fun way to be creative. No penalties for missed days, and no prize for hitting all the days – well, satisfaction is a prize in and of itself right?

Snap on, my friends, snap on.

IN: ON: July 14, 2013 TAGS: 30 day, activities, instagram, photography, photos, pinterest BY: Hilary

recipes

Recipe Friday: Snack Attack

I do my best to make healthful food choices, but at the end of the day (literally) I cannot help but stuff my face with sweet treats once the girls are in bed and the sun goes down. I know that I don’t bring the stuff in the house, then it won’t get consumed. The thing is, I have a wicked sweet tooth, and he likes to come out at night.

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It usurps my brain power when I’m doing the grocery shopping. In my head, I see myself buying more fruit and veggies to snack on. I see a plate with hummus and a few pita chips, maybe small bowl of raw cashews and almonds. When I’m under the sale banners and fluorescent lights, however, the sweet tooth takes over.

I’m not buying Tasty Cakes, Ding Dongs, and Little Debbie snack packs, but there are a few ice cream treats, gourmet dark chocolate squares, and the occasional piece of Ukrop’s cake in between the packages of free range chicken breasts and organic baby lettuces.

I’m on My Fitness Pal, a web and smartphone app that helps you track what you’re putting in your bod, your physical activity and so forth as you get in shape. Several friend of mine are on it as well, and it’s a great way to see what you’re eating, how much, and how many calories are exchanged on a daily basis. Right now, I’m working on maintenance, so my calorie alotment has been higher than usual. Since I’ve not been working out, though, it dropped back down a bit. Regardless, a typical food journal entry for me looks like this:

Breakfast
3/4 C Special K
3/4 Milk
Coffee with 1 packet of Truvia and 2 tbs. of Coffee Mate

Lunch
Big salad (at least 3 cups of lettuce, shredded carrots, grape tomato, sliced red onion, sliced english cucumber)
3 oz. pan seared seasoned chicken breast
1 oz. of chips, crackers or tortillas (I need something crunchy)

Snacks
AM: Navel orange
PM: Second cup of coffee and 2 graham crackers

Dinner
Usually same as lunch, while the Hubs and the girls get pasta, chicken with rice/potato/starch, or some other kind of #omnomnom dinner I’ve found on Pinterest.

Then comes the post-bedtime routine cool-down. The sun has set, the house is quiet, the washing machine is chugging in time with the purr of the dryer. The counters have been wiped down, the floor has been swept and I’m flipping through the channels in search of something that has nothing to do with Housewives, Baby Mamas, Pregnant teenagers or Honey Boo-Boo. My sweet tooth and my tummy text each other and the next thing I know, I’m standing in front of the pantry looking, looking, looking for the Holy Grail of snacks to quell the borborygmi reaching a full crescendo in my tummy.

My sweet tooth is nocturnal. That’s not to say I’d turn down a cupcake or a piece of chocolate during the day, but I”m more likely to pass on it when the sun is out than when the moon is high. Besides, the idea of salty snacks before bedtime doesn’t really go with the idea of “Sweet Dreams”. Here’s a dish of potato chips, dear! Salty Dreams!

Anyway, most nights, I end up with two squares of Lindt’s Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and a glass of wine. Some nights, I add two of those yummy hazelnut pirouline cookies instead of the chocolate. Some nights I add the cookies in addition to the chocolate. I’m wild. Some nights, I got back after I’ve already eaten two squares and two cookies and get two more squares and two more cookies. I tell you, that sweet tooth just has been in it’s grasp.

It’s just so sweet!

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How can I resist?
Sure, I could leave you with a healthful recipe that involves fruit or something, but let’s be real. I could do that and still be in the pantry looking for the chocolate come 8pm tonight. So instead, here’s a recipe for a frozen treat that is calorie friendly, provided you just eat the serving size. Baby steps, little grasshoppers. Baby steps.

Peanut Butter Cool Whip Frozen Treats

recipe found here

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Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) container fat-free cool whip
1/3 cup reduced-fat creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup fat free chocolate syrup

Directions:
1. Mix cool whip and peanut butter together until well blended and smooth.
2. Drop into a 12 cup muffin tin lined with foil liners.
3. Drizzle chocolate sauce on top of each cup with 1 teaspoons of chocolate sauce.
4. Best served cold, so chill in freezer for 30 minutes.

Happy Friday, y’all!

IN: recipes ON: July 14, 2013 TAGS: baking, cooking, food, om nom nom, pinterest, recipes, working out BY: Hilary

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Hilary With One L

Hilary With One L

Hilary

August Photo Challenge

Recipe Friday

Homestretch

Inside the God Box

July Photo Challenge

Recipe Friday: Snack Attack