Today I’m going to start off with a little something different. I’ve been wanting, for a while now, to write about how joy manifests itself in my life, and how food has had a huge play in that. Today is basically just going to be an introduction of the topics to come, and I’m hoping to cover one topic per week. In no way is this meant to tell you how to have joy; in fact, I believe that you’re the only one who knows how to truly do that. However, I do want and need to share more of my heart with you guys, and hopefully somewhere along the way learn more about myself and my amazing readers!
I think it’s imperative to actually define JOY: the emotion evoked by well-being, success, good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires, the expression or exhibition of such emotion, a source or cause of delight. The thing is that joy can also be described as peace within despite outward circumstances, a little something I got from Heather. Our life will never be perfect, we will always want more, and there’s no way that we can be happy all the time. I would venture to say it’s humanly impossible. HOWEVER, if we can find JOY in the midst of our cirmcumstances, that’s something we should be proud of!
Through The Joyful Kitchen series, I am going to talk about how I find joy in:
- my marriage and relationships with other
- my body
- my faith in God
- my job and hobbies
- food
- exercise
I hope that as I work through these points you guys will be able to sit down, examine your own lives, and find joy in the little things! After all, this is our only life: make it count!
Robbie’s Birthday
Last night we went over to Robbie and Stef’s to celebrate Robbie’s birthday, and we had a blast! We had a TON of bread:
I’d say I probably had the equivalent of 3-4 slices and now have a bread baby in my belly. There was some dipping oil, but the bread was fresh and I just wanted it plain!
Stef made these amazing kebabs:
I could have eaten a VAT of the mushrooms she had on there…HOLY YUM! I’m drooling just thinking about them. I had one + some extra mushrooms and a salad:
The salad was topped with this crack cocaine dressing:
Probably one of the best dressings I’ve ever EVER had! I’m super picky about dressings, so trust me on this one. I bought a burger and a sourdough roll from Whole Foods to throw on the grill:
…and it was the size of my head…
…and this bite? Yes, this bite took all the strength in my jaw I could muster!
I got rid of the bun (too hard) and ate about 2/3 of the burger before quitting. I was SO full from the bread! There was also a beer tasting, but I failed miserably at it…OOPS! Guess I’m not really a beer connoisseur 🙂
And then it was time for cake! Robbie’s favorite cake is red earth cake, something I had NEVER heard of before! Since the cake was my job, looked to Google for the answer…
…and was provided said answer by Tasty Kitchen! I used this recipe, and it turned out amazing 🙂 Basically it’s red velvet cake with a little coffee and regular icing instead of cream cheese icing. YUM! We ended the night with cappuccinos and full bellies:
We were exhausted, so when we got home we went straight to bed. This morning I got up and did a stretch workout, then made a green monster for breakfast. I’ve been in quite the GM rut lately, so I didn’t take any pictures of that, but I DID take a photo of my car so y’all could see the May snowfall 🙂
Seriously, it’s freezing outside and this weather is wreaking havoc on my sinuses! No bueno, but I can’t really do anything about it.
Random question of the day: What was the first job you ever had? Did you like it? My first job was at a shaved ice place called Bahama Buck’s, and I LOVED it! I still have great friends that I met from there 🙂
AH, your kebab looks awesome!:)
My first job was at my dad’s work as a summer secretary 😀 it was fun and I’m working as an management assistant at the moment, so I have always been very assistant kind of a person!
Ugh. My sinuses are acting up, too. My ears are all plugged up and my face is so full of pressure. Can’t wait for a sunny day again!
My first job was being a cashier at CompUSA. It was a very miserable job. I remember that I had to work on Black Friday and I am traumatized to this day. So many people! I can’t even go shopping on that day because it gives me flashbacks.
wish we could’ve joined y’al last night but it just didn’t work out. 🙁
my first job was at putt-putt. i was 14. i produced a fake birth certificate that said i was 16 so that i could work more hours. they made me asst. manager soon after i started and then i felt guilty for lying to them, so i quit!
My first job was at McDonalds. Not very original, but I LOVED it!
That cake sounds amazing!
I have not had a real job…ohhh dear, I really need to get on that 🙁
That cake sounds fabulous! I’m a red velvet lover for sure. My first job was a Piggly Wiggly. It’s a southern grocery store. It was a lot of fun!
Wow, the dinner looks amazing. And I cannot believe it is SNOWING up there. It is 88 out today down here in South Florida!
My first job… I actually didn’t get a job until college, and I went through a temp agency. They found me temp office jobs for the summer (three office total, during the course of the summer). Nothing special, but I learned a lot and had a lot of drive!
Love the new series!!
And that cake looks amazing!
My first job was working at a concession stand at the baseballs park. I LOVED looking at all the cute boys 🙂
May snowfall?! Crazy!!
Bread babies are the BEST babies 🙂
OMG! I loved Bahama Bucks. So good. My very first job was coaching gymnastics. I loved working with the little kids. They were so cute.
I just googled red earth cake too.. is it similar to red velvet cake. Now I want cake.. lol
My first job was at the library putting books back on the shelf. I made $3.25. It was a fun job 🙂
I love the Joyful idea. I agree that joy is feeling peace despite outward circumstances. It is very different from being happy. Happy can change in an instant. Joy is harder to extinguish. I can’t wait to read more!
My first job was working the cashier at Hobby Lobby. I still cringe when I shop there. I HATED that job!
That’s a great shot of you eating the burger! It stinks that the bun was too much to eat! Oh well, sounds like a great time. I am looking forward to reading your new segments. I could not agree more with sharing and reading about others’ experiences. We can all learn from each other! My first real job was working in a day care. I was 16 and I went after school every day. I actually really loved it!
I would love that cake! The whole reason I don’t like red velvet cake is because I hate cream cheese icing. I cannot believe there is snow there! Well, I guess I can since it’s CO.
My first job was waiting tables at a retirement home. It was as awful as it sounds!
I love the new series idea and can’t wait to read more about it. I’m really picky about dressings, too, so I have to try that one.
My first job was working at a car wash – it was so much fun! A ton of teenagers.
My first job (besides babysitting) was at Subway in highschool. I was playing varsity tennis plus had a full load of AP classes at school and it became too much very quickly. I worked exactly 3 weeks and quit once I paid off my prom dress 😀
Today I found joy in sleeping in 🙂
mmmm that food looks sooooo good! my first job was working at Gelato! hahaha