May 8: A Smell You Adore

Oh, the five senses. What would we do without them? Whenever I was in grade school and a teacher would ask which was my favorite of the five senses, I could never choose! They're all so indispensable. And they seem to work together on so many levels that they really feel synonymous to me.

I think the sense of smell is kind of like the icing on the cake. It's this extra bonus that can enhance any experience. So, I tried to think of all the smells I just love. I thought of freshly brewed coffee, my various perfumes, cut grass, my favorite body wash, baking cookies, ocean spray, hazelnut candles, apple pie, etc. I could go on and on. But I wanted something a little different. Something out of the box. And something that I could smell in my house today.

So, I chose cilantro. I LOVE the smell of cilantro! It's so fresh and clean and mouthwatering. It makes me think of exotic, far-off places and delicious Mexican cuisine. When I find a leafy, green bundle of cilantro in my fridge, I get so excited because I know my mom is going to make something totally delicious and rather special.

Most of the time, we will use our cilantro to make copycat Chipotle burritos. They are so scrumptious! We put cilantro in the rice and in our homemade pico de gallo. Yum! But today, we used the cilantro to make a bean dip.

Let me tell you something. This is not just any old bean dip! This is the bean dip of all bean dips! I love this stuff, and I don't even like beans! That's how good it is. It's got all of these wonderful, fresh veggies in there, and you can eat it pretty much any way you can think of. We've eaten it on grilled chicken, with tortilla chips, or just by itself as a salad. It's fantastic!

Today, we were out of tortilla chips, so we tried to make our own. ;) Didn't work out so well. It tasted fine, but there definitely wasn't any crunch factor going on. I'm not complaining, though because the bean dip makes up for all else!

So, if you're interested, here's the recipe to THE bean dip:

Can't Stop Eating Bean Dip
(courtesy of St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Ingredients

 2 15 oz. cans of black beans (rinsed and drained)
1 15 oz. can of whole kernel corn (drained)
1/2 c. onion (finely chopped)
1/2 c. green pepper (chopped)
1/4 c. cilantro (chopped)
1 medium tomato (chopped)
1 1/2 t. cumin
1/2 t. salt
2 cloves garlic (minced)
6 T. oil
6 T. lime juice

Instructions

Combine beans, corn, onion, pepper, cilantro, tomato, cumin, salt, garlic, oil and lime juice in a large container. Cover and refrigerate overnight (if possible).

Pretty easy, right? And oh, so delicious! I hope you enjoy!

May 7: Someone that Inspires You

I spent most of today with my mom, so I was definitely going to use her for this post, but then I peeked ahead at the upcoming days in the photo challenge, and I saw that May 13 (Mother's Day) is obviously all about Mom. So, I'm saving her for a future post.

Once I made that decision, I spent the rest of the day trying to decide who I should pick. I have a lot of people in my life that inspire me, but I wanted to pick someone who inspired me in a special way today. And that would be Miss Olivia.

My little sister often inspires me to be more creative, slow down and smell the roses, and just be silly. She has made such a huge difference in my life. Today, Olivia taught me to appreciate the little things.

I think this is the beautiful thing about little kids: they know how to enjoy the small things in life. Many a parent have told stories about their children playing with a cardboard box on Christmas morning instead of the expensive toy they bought them. Children just see things differently than adults do. They don't see price tags or social status. They see a fort made of cardboard.

Yesterday, Olivia won a prize at Sunday School for doing her homework. The entire way into church she talked about which prize she would pick and how much she wanted a certain black horse. She went on and on about this horse. So, we got to church, took her to her classroom, and each of us went our own merry way. I headed to the fellowship center and started chatting with a friend. Pretty soon, I felt someone tugging on my skirt. It was Olivia, her face was flushed and her eyes were glowing.

"Megan! I won the horse!" she said. "I got the horse!"

She was so incredibly excited. I looked down at the little plastic horse in her hand. It wasn't any bigger than the length of my hand. To me, it looked highly overrated, but to her, it was a precious treasure. It made me smile to see her so happy.

I didn't think about the differences of our responses to the toy until today. Olivia was able to appreciate something as small as a plastic horse. I was not. She has inspired me to lose my high expectations and take the time to love the little things. Like talking to my best friend. Looking at pictures with my mom. Helping my sister work on her flash cards.

Because after all, it's the little things in life that matter the most.

May 6: You

When you meet a person, do you ever connect their name with a distinguishing physical characteristic they have? Sometimes I do. It makes it easier to remember people and their names. So, I started thinking about what characteristic other people might connect with my name. What makes my Spanish professor from freshman year of college still remember my name when she sees me around campus? How do people remember me?

For me, I'm pretty sure it's my hair.

Almost every time I meet someone new, they will comment on my hair. I guess a lot of people don't keep their natural curls anymore, so I may be a bit of an oddity. People always ask, "Are those natural?"

So, maybe it's these little springs that make people think of Megan. I don't know if this is true or not, but I have to say, I sure love my curls. And despite the frizz and the "humidity 'fro," as I like to call it, I wouldn't change them one bit. Sure, I've temporarily straightened my hair a few times just for kicks, but at the end of the day, I'd much rather go curly.

My curls are definitely me since I've almost always had them and I'm not sure what I would do with straight hair! Just ask my sisters. I'm terrible at styling straight hair! Curls are so much more forgiving.

So, here's how I see me: I'm a curly girl, and a curly girl I will always be!

May 5: Bird

I'll be honest. I am not a fan of birds. They have beady eyes, disgusting habits, and nasty feathers. Do you see where I'm coming from?

My disgust for birds is several years in the making. We seemed to start off on the right foot, since I adored Big Bird as a child. But this bird appreciation was quickly replaced by a deep-seated fear.

Two main incidences have contributed to my fear of birds. The first involves geese which are probably my least favorite birds of all. They are evil, I tell you! So, envision this scene: Little Megan and Uncle go to lake. Megan and Uncle feed bread to geese. Megan and Uncle run out of bread. The geese want more. The geese decide to use Megan's clothing as a substitute for bread. Megan runs away screaming. Geese run after Megan honking. Little Megan is scarred for life. The End. Tragic, I know.

The second incidence consists of an entire day of birds hating on me. On this day, my mischievous cousin threw a dead bird on me, and another bird leaked on my shorts as I was swinging on the playground. Seriously? What are the odds?

Add in the fact that I go to a school flooded with aggressive geese, and I think you can understand my dislike of birds. Needless to say, I was not looking forward to taking a picture of a bird.

That is until I thought of a bird I rather like.


This bird is one of the charms on a pair of earrings I bought at Claire's a few years ago. I like these earrings because each of the charms are so different and pretty. And the bird is actually rather elegant. So, today I learned that not all birds are yucky or evil and even some of the real birds can be enjoyed...from a distance. ;)

May 3-4

I was pretty busy yesterday, so I didn't get a chance to post yesterday's picture. But I definitely made sure to take it!

The subject for May 3 was "something I wore today." I chose to feature a piece of jewelry that I wore. I own three rings that are really special to me, and I'm almost always wearing one of them. Yesterday, I wore the ring that my Grandma Elsie gave me for my 13th birthday. There is one jewel mounted in the ring. It's cut in the shape of a heart, and apparently, it is my birthstone.

My birthstone is a rather funny thing. You see, my birthstone changes colors. I have various pieces of jewelry featuring my birthstone, but they're all different colors. Ice blue, turquoise, purplish-blue, just plain blue. I should really look into this. Does the stone just come in different colors or are some people seriously confused? I don't know.

Anyway, this ring is special to me because it was from my Grandma Elsie. She passed away when I was just 16, so everything I have that reminds me of her is especially precious to me. Grandma's present was sweet and elegant and sort of a coming-of-age present for me. I felt so important, so grown-up when I received that ring. I still wear it with pride, and every time I look at it, I think of Grandma.

I miss her. I wish she was here to see me today. I wish she was here to see that little girl all grown-up.

May 4: Fun!

I had a lot of fun today, so it was rather difficult trying to narrow it down to one picture. Probably the best thing I did was just take it easy. I finished up my semester yesterday, and it felt so good to do nothing. No responsibilities. Nowhere to be. Just time to relax.

My mom and I spent the morning perusing Michael's and Hobby Lobby, one of our favorite things to do together. We picked up some super cute decorations for my sister's after-grad party, and I found all of the supplies I need to make my Mother's Day present. I thought about putting a picture on here of the items I bought (as it was very fun to decide on which things to buy), but then I decided I better not if I want to keep it a surprise to my mom. You never know when she'll drop in on my blog! ;) Maybe I'll post pictures of the finished product.

In the afternoon, I spent my time planning and dreaming about our family's next Walt Disney World vacation. If you know me, you know how I love Disney. In fact, one of my friends once told me that if Walt Disney World was a man, I would marry him. To that I replied, "Of course!" If there was a man with that much creativity and attention to detail wrapped up inside of him, I would nab him for sure. ;)

When thinking about Disney World, I usually like to watch Disney tour DVDs, check out the Disney website, read the Disney Parks Blog, or watch those good, old classic Disney movies (which we still have on VHS, I might add). Today, I spent my time reading our numerous issues of the Disney magazine "Celebrations."

This magazine is phenomenal! If you are a fellow Disney-lover, do yourself a favor and get a subscription to this magazine. It is well-worth the price. The articles and photography are top-notch. It's a dream of mine to one day write an article for this magazine.

So, I read through our most current issue and two of the back issues that we have collected. It was so much fun! I learned some new things that I hadn't picked up on during my first reading. I read about the elaborate construction of Spaceship Earth at Epcot (affectionately known as "the Ball" to many fans), the detailed art of The Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom, and the ingenious development of Finding Nemo: The Musical, also found at Animal Kingdom, along with numerous other tidbits of valuable Disney knowledge. Definitely my idea of fun!

People may think I'm crazy for loving Disney so much at my age, but I say Disney is not just for kids, it's for the kids at heart.

May 2: Skyline

Today's theme is the skyline.

This is my skyline. And I really can't think of any better type of skyline (except maybe one that includes mountains and pine trees). I don't want any skyscrapers. I don't want a busy city. I don't want hundreds of people. Those things are nice to see and maybe enjoy for a short time, but what I really want are trees and stars and soothing nighttime noises.

I am so blessed to have these beautiful trees lining the back of my house. No skyscrapers or homes or people. Just trees. I wouldn't have it any other way.

May 1: Peace

So, I decided to try one of these picture challenges I've been hearing about. The goal of the project is to take one picture a day that corresponds with a certain theme. I found a photo challenge for the month of May on Pinterest and decided to give it a shot. Who knows if I'll complete them all or even post all of the pictures on here, but it sounded like something fun to do. I think this would be a really great idea for a scrapbook later on when I have some more time.

Anyway, the theme for May 1 is Peace. The most peaceful thing I can think of is a little kid sleeping. Fortunately, I have a little sister at my house, so I sneaked a picture of her after she fell asleep tonight. I love listening to her heavy breathing when she sleeps. It's so steady, and all of the little snorts and sniffles are rather endearing. :)

The photo is pretty dark since I didn't want to use the flash and wake her up (that definitely would have disturbed the peace in my house!), but I think the darkness adds to the serenity of the picture. Quiet and peaceful. Makes me want to get some sleep myself!

Here is what Peace looks like to me: