To answer A LOT of your questions about what life is like after pulling the FaceBook plug, I must admit it is truly wonderful and I am so thankful every day that I broke that habit (addiction). To be honest, I did reactivate it after several day as there were some people who I can only contact with through FaceBook. However, I deleted over 100 “friends” when I reactivated and have only been on for about 5 minutes in over a week now. Simply put, I don’t go on unless I get a message and have asked all friends and family to contact me via email or phone instead of FB if they have that contact info. It has been incredibly freeing. There are no more drama posts to try to filter through, sales gimmicks to try to avoid, political rants to try to ignore, passive aggressive comments directed at me (but pretending like they are not directed at me- yes I saw them miscellaneous family member who I will not name here), etc. I talk to who I need to talk to when I need to talk to them and get the information that is truly important sans the extra baggage. If you’re considering pulling the FB plug, I say JUST DO IT!

To answer your other questions- life going back to school has been quite an adjustment to say the least. While I LOVE classes and learning, it has been difficult sitting next to people much younger than me (who think I’m their age) and fitting school work back into my free time. I’m blessed to have a strong support system around me of people who keep me strong (and shower me with surprises like flowers and ice cream… love my fiancé)!

Despite my new extracurricular activities, I still am finding time to do some things I enjoy, like see David Bromstad speak at Disney’s Flower & Garden Festival! For those HGTV fans out there, you know the Bromanator from his hit show Color Splash (which is returning to TV late summer/early fall). Like a good, non-frightening fan, I planned my visit months ago, got to the show an hour early to get a seat, and then totally failed to get into line fast enough to meet him. True story. He was a total sweetheart though, noticing me stalking him from behind the rope and posing for a picture for me anyways. Although we didn’t get to meet, I’m convinced that should we have it would have gone something like this:

David: Hi! Thank you so much for coming today to support me!

Me: I wouldn’t miss it for the world!

David: So you’re a big fan?

Me: Yes! I love Color Splash, HGTV, Florida, Disney, and dogs, just like you!

David: Really? Do you want to be my PA, in a totally professional, non-creepy fan way?

Me: Would looooove to! I’ll move to Miami and even take care of Lady Godiva Bon-Bon and Dozer on the side. They would love my Moo!

David: Perfect! See you tomorrow at 8am then?

Me: Fabulous! (Hug, take picture, part ways until tomorrow at 8am).

Ok, so perhaps none of that happened but it could have, had we met. The Universe apparently didn’t feel like we were ready for each other yet, so I moved along to what was intended for me in my future…

If you haven’t discovered France’s new quick-service restaurant, Les Halles Boulangerie Patisserie, you are missing out! Talk about heaven in the form of sugary treats! This was a coffee/chocolate flavored concoction that left me pondering if licking the inside of the cup would be worth the social embarrassment risk. (It was…)

And now it’s back to reality, aka studying for tests at the moment!

Cheers,

Stephanie

On the subject of last calls, I have decided to make a few “life” changes. For starters, I started school last week as the beginning of the end to my current career. After a few more years of schooling, I will be graduating with my second Bachelor’s, this time in nursing. While being back in school for a second Bachelor’s is hardly where I expected to be at 28, it is better than being unemployed or stuck in a dead-end career at 30, which is where I was headed.

Secondly, I’ve adopted a new philosophy. If I don’t like something, I work to change it. If I don’t change it, I no longer have room to complain. If I can’t change it, I work on changing my mentality about it. I refer to it as my mental house cleaning. Out with the old and making room for the new. You know the feeling when you clean out a closet and reorganize it? This kind of feels like that, but on a larger scale. Simply put, I was done with excuses both made by myself and heard by others.

I deactivated my FaceBook account. For a while now I have said I have wanted to and tried limiting my time on it but then justified every time I went on. Honestly, I’m happier not on it. Not that I do not enjoy my friends or hearing about their lives, but my true friends and family know how to get a hold of me and keep in touch. I really don’t need the other 99% of useless tidbits that I inevitably come across or the people who FaceBook stalk to me “keep in touch.” For now, we will see how long it lasts, but it is a start.

Which leads me to my next decision, which is to keep SSBlog up and running. While I have enjoyed my time writing, met some super people, and have accomplished some of my goals through Simply Stephanie Blog, I also feel that it has come to an end. If I do decide to keep going I will be rethinking the direction in which I take, as for the same reason that I have deactivated FaceBook, I have decided to close the book on my personal life stories as well. It’s not you- it’s me.

Checking in and possibly checking out,

Stephanie

Here we go:

• The blogosphere is sometimes nicer than the realosphere. Never once have I dreaded blogging or comments from my subscribers. I have met some incredibly nice people who support me in almost all I do, care about my well-being and overall are genuinely nice. Turning to my blog is a relief and I cherish the friends I have made from it. 
• There is no right or wrong. For the longest time, I was so wrapped up in what to do and not to do to grow SSBlog. In the end, I noticed that the posts that attracted the largest audience were those in which I let everything go and was just being myself. Perhaps there is something to be said there for our everyday lives as well.
• Sticks and stones can break bones but words are like daggers to the heart. Not every post has gone well, and some have been learning lessons. Writing is incredibly challenging as words and messages can be interpreted differently due to lack of tone amongst other various factors. Sometimes, without even trying, my words have hurt others unintentionally which has led to me really focusing on what and how I am writing posts before I publish them. (Or not publishing them at all).
• Not everything needs to be shared. Sometimes silence really is golden. If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. At the same time, if what you have to say is nice but not necessarily needed, it may be more meaningful when kept to yourself.
• When in doubt, wait it out. Perhaps this also stems from maturity, but I find that when I’m uncertain to publish a post, I wait on it for a day. The past several ended up in the trash…

And lastly, but most importantly, have fun and don’t sweat the small stuff. When I started putting rules and deadlines around my blogging, I lost the desire to blog at all. Just like anything in life, you have to enjoy it for it to be worth doing. Have fun with it, let your own style show through and try not to get too wrapped up in what will do well, attract subscribers, etc. Case in point, I tried (what seemed like endlessly) to get 1,000 subscribers by December 31. It didn’t happen. I stopped trying and just enjoyed my journey, and here we are today over 1,000. The Debbie-downers and naysayers will chime in every now and then, but just like anything else in life you have to be able to not let it get to you and just keep going.

Or just keep swimming…if you’re Dori. (Jenn, that one is for).

And now we are derailing off topic so I’ll wrap it up. Thanks for coming, thanks for staying, and thanks for being you!

Stephanie

That being said, they are still right. As I have been practicing yoga more seriously now, it has made me start thinking about what I share/say before sharing/saying it. Granted there are some bloggers that are an open book (my previous self included), but during my self-reflecting I have decided to keep some things to myself moving forward.

For those of you who have wondered what I’ve been up to (and why I have been missing), here is a 30 second or less recap.

Easter weekend was great. We spent it eating Chinese food at Epcot. After all, nothing says Easter like Chinese, right?

Wedding plans are for the most part complete. The biggest obstacle I have left is deciding what to wear for the Rehearsal Dinner. Who says the bride should wear white?

I’m still cooking, but maybe on a quicker/easier scale. Meet my newest creation, the turkey pesto panini (made on the Foreman grill). Basically the sandwich is turkey, romano tomatoes, pesto sauce, mozzarella, and an olive-oil sub sauce on a sourdough french bread loaf squished in the Foreman (not to be confused with the Dyson) for 3 minutes.

And then there is just time spent enjoying life and being present. Lots of yoga-ing, visited some goats, have spent time researching what vacuum to purchase next, you know- the norm.

As SimplyStephanie has been neglected, I have received requests from guest-bloggers asking to commandeer the site for a post or two. Since I’m working on being open-minded and trying new things…I may just hand them the helm.

Anyone still here? Bueller…

I don’t know about you, but I love me some good meatloaf. I hate to brag, but nobody makes meatloaf like my Mama! So without further adieu…

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground beef (lowest amount of fat)
• 1 pound ground pork (lowest amount of fat)
• 1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
• 1 package of French Onion Soup mix (Lipton’s, according to Mom)
• 2 eggs
• Breadcrumbs…enough to make it it not stick to a wall, should you throw a lump at it (also according to mom)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Grease a meatloaf pan with Pam.
3. Mix the ground beef and pork together with eggs, can of Cream of Mushroom soup, and package of French Onion Soup mix. Add breadcrumbs in small amounts and mix until the consistency is sticky enough to make a meatball, but not sticky enough to stick to a wall if you throw it at it (this is verbatim, per Mom).
4. Put meatloaf in pan and cook for 1 hour 20 minutes.
5. Drizzle ketchup across the top prior to serving if desired.

This meatloaf is amazing, just like my Mom….aweeeee!!!! Enjoy!

Friends, these Prosciutto-Wrapped Chicken breasts are out-of-this-world incredible. To make it even better, they are super easy to make and don’t even require a lot of ingredients!

Ingredients:

• 4  slices  prosciutto
• 2  tablespoons  fresh oregano, chopped (or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried)
• 4  6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• black pepper
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 8  cloves garlic, unpeeled

Directions:

1. Lay the prosciutto on a cutting board or plate and sprinkle with the oregano.
2. Season the chicken with ½ teaspoon pepper. Lay each breast on a slice of prosciutto and wrap the prosciutto around the chicken.
3. Heat the oil and garlic in a large skillet over medium heat.
4. Add the chicken and cook until the prosciutto is crisp and the chicken is cooked through, 7 to 8 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken and garlic to plates.

I paired this with veggies and it was terrific! Also, I did buy a pepper marinade and let the chicken soak in it for 30 minutes prior to making in leu of sprinkling pepper on the breasts. The marinade gave it a little extra flavor.

Enjoy!

Hi class, my name is Stephanie and I have something I’d like to confess: fear scares the begeebers out of me, and not in a good way. Fear scares me to stay in my comfort zone and not take risks. Then I get frustrated because I am not growing and change isn’t happening although it can’t happen because I’m afraid to make the necessary changes for those things to happen.

I realized this the other day in yoga. Side note: if you have not really given yoga an honest shot, I really strongly encourage you to try it. I used to think it was for crazy hippies who liked to show off that they could touch their toes- but that is soooo NOT what it is about. That was my ignorance to the subject and close-mindedness coming though. Again, something I’m not proud of.

But back to my story- so I was in the middle of class, really pushing my body and not really loving the discomfort I was in with the particular asana, and then it hit me- I was totally afraid of fully giving in to it. I was afraid my body couldn’t do it, wouldn’t be able to do it, and that I would get hurt from even trying. The result, I stressfully clung to my half-arsed attempt at holding onto the asana. And that is when it hit me- my own fear lacked my ability to even see if I could do it. I wasn’t even going to TRY to do it. My answer to this revelation…I let go.

I let go quickly like ripping a band-aid off and fully allowed my body to go for it regardless if I broke my wrist, neck, rib, whatever it may have been I was thinking would absolutely end up broken (and death would surely come as a result). Not only was I FULLY capable of reaching the position, but it was incredible when I got there. Suddenly that stress I was feeling by trying to cling so tightly to my attempt was no longer there. There was no pain, in fact quite the opposite. I felt an enormous relief both mentally and physically.

The next day I challenged another fear-based thought. Again, I proved not only could I do it- but the end result was wonderful and nothing that I feared transpired.

Now I am on a mission to seriously challenge my fear. Let’s not get crazy- I’m not swimming in the ocean anytime soon or skydiving- because that obviously will result in death. I’m starting small to prove to myself that in order to know I really cannot do something, I have to try it first. If I let my fear win, I lose. For those of you who know me, you know that I do not taking losing well- especially when it is to myself.

I feel better sharing this, because I feel like there are others out there that it may resonate with. Perhaps it makes sense and the next time you catch yourself choosing not to try something because of a fear-based decision, maybe you’ll challenge yourself to go for it. Or maybe this will just plant itself in your mind like a seed, and then one day you will have that moment when you realize, “that’s what she was talking about!”

Regardless, I feel like I just made the next scientific breakthrough and felt obliged to save everyone else around me- should you need saving. You’re welcome.

P.S. Should you try to challenge yourself and actually break a leg, neck, etc.- not guilty!

I know that sleeping on it sometimes changes the way of how something is said, but it often times also leads to nothing being said at all. People then bottle up their feelings, let them build up, and then one day let it all come hurling out over what usually is something rather insignificant. I prefer to speak my peace now, I will try to work on putting it eloquently at the same time.

For a few weeks now I have been absent from writing. While I have adopted an almost nightly workout routine, I also am in the midst of wedding planning.

But let’s rewind a few months. Late in 2012, Brian & I sat down together and honestly discussed eloping. Weddings are a serious expense and for the same investment, we could have made a down payment on our first home. We went over the pros and cons of it all and ultimately decided to have a small wedding ceremony & reception with our closest family & friends. Our reasoning was simple, ultimately in the end we wanted to celebrate our special day with those who mean so much to us. While materialistic items, like a home…and all the nice Crate & Barrel junk I could have filled it with would have been wonderful, I have always believed that actions speak louder than words. Therefore, celebrating with family was more important.

Planning a wedding though is not what it is cracked up to be. It is a serious test of patience. It can be stressful. It is an emotional roller coaster. It is an incredible judgment of character of not only yourself, but of others.

My mother who has been out of work due to a back injury and is in-between doctors, different tests, etc. is going to find a way to come up with the extra money to get herself to Florida and sit on a plane with her back pain for 2+ hours…each way. My dad bought me the world’s most beautiful wedding dress and will be there to walk me down the aisle. My brother and sister-in-law are taking time off from their incredibly demanding jobs in D.C. to attend. Brian’s parents have volunteered themselves helping with any plans that they can and are going to be there with us to celebrate. Our friends from childhood who we consider family and have not seen in years are both making the journey down to be present with us. My best friend has been available for every phone call, dress shopping event, email question and anything else you can think of. I have unofficially turned her into my official wedding planner, and I cannot thank her enough.

The point of my somewhat coherent rambling is this, for all of those stressful, patience-testing moments, for all those times when I felt inconvenienced, I look at all of the unbelievably heart touching stories I already have from those who are going out of their way to come celebrate with us. While it is financially a large investment for us, it is also a large investment for them as well. With travel and time off included it is a lot to ask anyone.

Sure, there are some aches and pains associated with the downsides that have come as a result of the wedding. There are things said, things not said, and feelings that get hurt. I sat this weekend and wondered if Brian & I made the right choice or if eloping would have been easier. And the answer is absolutely, without-a-doubt yes. Eloping would have been easier for all parties involved. The easy option though is not always the right one.

Any doubt I had ended when I spoke with my 91-year-old Grandfather yesterday. I had not received his RSVP back, and wondered if he would be able to attend. Knowing that he needs assistance traveling and getting around on either end I knew this was not an easy mission for him. His response, “by hook or by crook, I’ll be there darling.”

Yes, I could have bought a home. Sure, I could have purchased every item on my materialistic wish list. It would have been beautiful and wonderful and meant nothing.

I have no regrets about the decision we made. Our time here on Earth is short, and I cherish the moments and opportunities I am afforded when I get to see people I care about. I try my best to live in accordance with that belief. Actions will always, always speak louder than any words ever could.

Now holding my peace,

Stephanie

Planning Tips for Your Kissimmee Vacation

The Wave of American Flavors at Disney’s Contemporary Hotel

Carriage Rides in Celebration

Be Swept Away by the Gaylord Palms

Ice Skating in Central Florida

Grand Floridian Cafe

Celebration Towne Center

Lotus Fitness Studio

Splitsville at Downtown Disney

Pirate’s Dinner Adventure

I can now officially check “Travel Writing” off the bucket list. It was a such a blast accomplishing my goal and the best part is that the money earned from my posts will go towards my wedding dress…that I get this Saturday! Exciting things still yet to come; life is good.

Cheers,

Stephanie