I know it has been a while since I've wrote a blog post, but today I was truly inspired to become better at it and make it a point to become more regular.
If you've joined me in the past you know that I am a proud member of the beautiful WeddingGirl team as a Bridal Lifestyle Blogger and Wedding Planner; and while I've been blogging away over there I have been neglecting this blog, which is something I just love doing and wish I would focus on more.
The person that inspired me today is Mary, the girl behind WeddingGirl.ca. Mary built WeddingGirl five years ago, and yesterday, it all went down. Literally. We're calling it the Great WG Crash of 2014. The website is only now off life support.
It's amazing isn't it? Everything you built for yourself can be gone in one second. This is true for various different scenarios (i.e. death in the family, losing your family fortune, etc.); and though you think it could never happen to you, the truth is is that it can.
What's so inspiring about the whole situation though, is the sheer amount of love, support, and words of encouragement that has come her way. From friends, family, strangers, and WeddingGirl fans on Facebook and beyond. It's truly amazing how much people step up to the plate when you need them. Through this, Mary has gone ahead and continued to inspire and share her personal life (and blog, for the first time ever) with the rest of the social media world. Something she always thought would be separate.
What's more inspiring is that she makes time for everything. Her business, her family, her friends, her personal blog, and of course mentoring and inspiring a group of great women.
She is inspiring me to be a better person; a better wedding planner (duh!), a better writer, a better friend, a better mom (she might laugh at that one), a better spouse...a more true version of myself. Someone that won't let fear stop her; how can I when she conquered her fear by travelling the world alone, trekked Mount Everest, and that moment when she had that 'teeny tiny moment of being debilitatingly afraid' when a group of 25 people RSVP'd to hear her talk on WGx (me being one of them).
Mary, you truly are inspiring, and I know the rest of our WG team thinks so too. Thanks for motivating, inspiring, and helping us turn our can'ts into can's and our plans into dreams; I can't wait to read your journey, and in some ways be apart of it.
For everyone who has helped Mary with the website, thank you so much for your efforts. The whole WeddingGirl team truly can't thank you enough.
And so my friends, stay tuned for more with me. There is a lot more coming.
Want to follow my WeddingGirl journey? Friend me on Facebook and follow me on Instagram!
This winter has been the first 'real' winter we've had in several years. We've been spoiled with higher than normal temps in the past so I think Mother Nature came back with a vengeance! We have more snow this year than I can ever remember. Lucky for us though, it has led me to try my hand at making homemade soups, which I have been doing a lot of lately. I'm a true believer that one of the best things about the cold weather is having a nice hot bowl of something (chili, soup, etc.). Don't you agree?
So, since we hosted Christmas dinner this year I had a boat load of turkey left and decided to come up with my own leftover turkey soup recipe. I'm happy to say that it turned out delicious so I thought I'd share.
Prep time: 20 mins I Cook Time: 1.5 hours I Servings: 10 - 12
2 tbsp. of butter
1 onion, diced
1 cup of chopped carrots
1 cup of chopped celery
1 tsp. of garlic powder
2 cans (398 mL) of diced tomatoes
2 cartons (900 mL) of chicken
broth
4 tbsp. of dried parsley
2 tsp. of salt
4 – 5 cups of chopped leftover turkey
1 cup of elbow macaroni
Directions:
1. Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic powder; saute for a few minutes.
2. Add diced tomatoes, chicken broth, parsley, salt, and turkey to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat. Simmer for approximately 1 hour until vegetables are barely tender.
3. Add the elbow macaroni and simmer for 30 minutes more. Serve or freeze for later consumption.
This soup pairs nicely with warm bread and butter. Enjoy!
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I'm combining this post with the Inspire Me Blog Challenge 2014 hosted by Showered With Design and Happiness is a Mood Not a Destination. Today's prompt is: When is your birthday?
My birthday is July 1st. I celebrate my birthday with Canada, and as a proud Canadian, I think that is really awesome. Not to mention that it's also a long weekend :)
