A Challenge

So one of my most favorite role models started this thing last year called RADVENT. Her name is Megan and she’s owner of Princess Lasertron. RADVENT is 25 days in December “to honor and celebrate the lessons, joy and beauty of 2011 and re-examine my goals and hopes for the coming year.” And she invites her readers and followers to participate right alongside her, either on their own blog or privately in some other way.

Definitely check out her website. Her products are fabulous and her words are always inspiring. Here’s a taste of Radvent Day 1: Challenging.

When we give ourselves the chance to attain our desires, we open up a world of possibilities. By just trusting ourselves to make our own rules, our own mistakes, and own our successes and disappointments, we separate our existence from the plane of banality. We reject mediocrity. We shine with the light of living as who we truly are.

Challenge yourself to give your undivided attention to something that you have been passively putting off…

a pile of laundry? a difficult memory? a friend?

….Your positive, courageous talk will  help your goals and intentions manifest more readily because you are actively moving toward them instead of hoping they will magically occur. By talking positively about your goals and your potential, you are pursuing your dreams. You will get what you want if you be honest about the effort it will take. Then you can take it all on, just one micro-challenge at time…

…Challenges are a gift to give us the opportunity to check our trajectories in life, adjust accordingly, and move forward on a  clearer path more consistent with our intentions and desires. When we re-evaluate the quality of energy we are putting into the world, it’s a chance for our headlights to flip up, the streetlights to turn on overhead, and we can finally illuminate the path in front of us.

“The thing is to become a master and in your old age to acquire the courage to do what children did when they knew nothing.” -Henry miller

(What would you do if you didn’t know you couldn’t do it?)

I’ve decided to journal privately for now. I believe it will be more honest and productive in my brain. Maybe I’ll share bits & pieces along the way or what I learned in the end. Either way I think it’s going to be a great exercise for myself!

xo
k 

“Heroin” track premiere on Consequence of Sound

movingcastles:

Consequence of Sound is premiering our track Heroin from the Twin Daggers EP today. They also did a nice little writeup about us. Go check it out here: 

http://consequenceofsound.net/2011/11/check-out-moving-castles-heroin-cos-premiere/

What’s more exciting is that we are sharing their front page with the Beach Boys. Kinda surreal…

-MC

Damaged Clusters

I have “partly damaged hard drive clusters” on my work computer at the moment, so I decided to take a minute to try to put into words something I’ve been contemplating lately..

We all know that men and women used to consume tobacco with wild abandon. Cigarettes, chewing tobacco, you name it it was cool and “a la mode” … Until it wasn’t. Until researchers finally convinced the masses they were killing themselves with this habit. Not to mention the women who kept it up during pregnancy. Now we look back and say, “What were they thinking??!” But they didn’t know.

So to get to my point… Do you think there is anything we do today that will turn out to be proven unhealthy or even deadly in our lifetime? All of these pharmaceutical drugs, flu shots, hybrid cars. Those are a few I wonder about. Yes they solve a problem for us in the moment, but what kind of long term affects do they cause that we don’t know about yet?

Not a particularly sunny subject, but I think it’s important we try to consider the full impact of our choices is all…

xo
K

New EP “Twin Daggers” out 11/1/11!!

movingcastles:

We are releasing our first *real* EP Twin Daggers on Tuesday 11/1/11.

Reasons for doing this: We aren’t much for the pomp of long pre-release hype fests and we didn’t want to steal any of Skyrim’s thunder by releasing the week after (for us nerds).

The EP will be available at movingcastles.com and pretty much every other place that you can get music on on the internet.

So… 11/1/11!!

Same Story, Different Veggie

Yep, another recipe from Pinterest. The moment I saw the picture of this dish on my phone screen, I knew I must make it: Oven Roasted Garlic Brussels Sprouts.

This vegetable used to be far from my mind. But as with most others that I’ve posted about, I now sing a different tune. Especially after this recipe. I bought a pound of fresh Brussels Sprouts from our new favorite grocery store, Natural Grocers. Going there is like a safe-haven. An oasis. It’s clean and quiet and healthy and friendly. Perfect.

While I did buy a pound and the recipe calls for two, I goofed and still used the full 1/2 C water and 2 Tbs Olive Oil. But they cooked up beautifully. And the smell. OH, THE SMELL! While these babies are in the oven for 50 minutes, your kitchen will turn into roasted garlic heaven. Too bad I was the only one here to enjoy it.

xo
k 

A Late Bloomer

John and I have been married for more than two years. May 23, 2009 was the day we exchanged nuptials. So that puts our wedding shower a few months even before that. So however long ago that was is when we got this - and Friday was the first time I’ve ever used it.

That night I made a recipe I found on Pinterest - Crock Pot Lemon Chicken. It smelled delightful while it cooked and looked quite delicious as well. But I have to admit, the flavor and texture were a disappointment. I think where I possibly went wrong was the size of the lemons I used. The two I bought were considerably large, so perhaps using them both fully was a mistake.

But I didn’t give up. I tried another idea as related to me by a fitness instructor who turns out is a Crock Pot fanatic: chicken, a jar of salsa, beans, etc. John and I make tacos/fajitas at least once a week, so I thought we could try this instead. Here was my recipe:

• Chicken (about 1.5 lbs white breast meet)
• Half jar of black bean & roasted corn salsa
• Full jar (didn’t draink) black soy beans*
• Drained can of corn
• Half stick butter

*A quick note about black soy beans, also called Turtle Beans. Let me just tell it to you in numbers… One serving of regular black beans on the shelf had 18 g carbs. One serving of black soy “turtle” beans had 8 g carbs. I KNOW..! The only thing, they can sometimes be hard to find but it’s worth it.

And here’s the final result!

It needed some salt and next time I may add a few more spices, but overall it was really easy and so yum!

Do you have any crock pot recipes to share? I’m thinking I’ll love it this winter!

xo
k