Easiest Black Bean Soup Ever

Now that we're finally getting some cooler weather, I had to make my favorite, super-easy, black bean soup. If you want to try it, here you go:

Brown 1-lb of ground beef, or turkey, with 1 small chopped onion
Drain the fat, if there is any
Stir in:
1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes
1 can Beef Broth
1 can Black Beans
and 1 Cup corn

Simmer for about an hour

Don't burn your tongue - enjoy.

Scrapbooking - and Life - Tips

It's the picture and the story behind the picture that should be the focus

• Keep it simple and stick to the basics. All you really need for scrapbooking is paper, archival pens, cutting tool, adhesives, a few – very few – embellishments like brads, ribbons, stickers, and most important –you need your pictures - it should be about the pictures and the stories behind them. Your pages will come out cleaner, lighter and more pleasing to the eye. And you won’t spend a fortune on shinola you don’t need.

• Don’t fall prey to the hype from advertisers and pushers. This includes conventions and scrapbook stores. I’ve bought more stuff than I will EVER use, just because I wandered aimlessly in stores and just ‘had to buy’ something that was so cute – and who knows how long they will have this particular cute thing. I’ve gone to conventions where there are rows and rows of booths with people telling me why I absolutely needed this awesome, life-changing gadget.

• Be aware that once you fill your space with tons of STUFF that you’d have to live 4 lifetimes to use, it bogs you down, it causes inertia, and the wonderful experience of creating now becomes a burden, causing you to not want to do it anymore, producing even more heaviness in you because so much of your hard earned money is sitting there tied up in what now has become just so much obvious waste.

Just as in life, if you follow tip # 1, you’ll create, you’ll enjoy it more, and it will be a pleasant experience. I’m currently paring my scrapbook supplies down to the basics. I can’t even begin to know how much money I had tied up. I was more engaged in the accumulation of STUFF that I lost sight of the reason I started scrapbooking. I won’t make this mistake again. A hobby should bring joy, not stress and immobility.

• Keep it light and remember, as in all of life, to ENJOY the EXPERIENCE!

Balance

Even in my younger, thinner days, I'd never have been able to balance on shoes like these! I see lots of young ladies walking in heels way too high for them, teetering and walking awkwardly, not realizing the shoes, they just had to have to make them look sexy and cool, are doing just the opposite for them.

I've looked for balance most of my life, teetering, making adjustments and awkwardly centering myself once again. Today I began a de-cluttering project in my house, and I am once again looking for balance in ridding myself of things that bring no value to my life while keeping those things that are necessary, bring beauty, peace, joy and sentimentality into it. I've read, and enjoyed, many essays written by self-proclaimed minimalists. Many say not to worry if you offend loved ones by ridding yourself of things they've given to you. I find that those gifts do bring me joy because they were given in love. Anything taken to an extreme cannot bring balance. 

So...off I go, back to my de-cluttering project, hopefully in balance.