Tag Archives: surprise

year of kindness challenge: week 50

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I am a little in awe of the fact that it’s already Wednesday, and just one week until Christmas! My past couple days have flown by so fast, it feels like some calendar squares simply disappeared. Anyone else feeling this way?? 

At least my days have been jam-packed with good stuff… teaching writing workshops at local schools, long walks and catch-ups with friends, cooking dinner for my family, sorting through and delivering donated books as part of my annual Holiday Book Drive {more on that later this week}… I’ve been collapsing into bed by 10 p.m. and sleeping like a rock!  

year of kindness button

Last week’s kindness challenge was to give a warm drink to a toll-booth worker, newspaper delivery person, or your mailman/mailwoman. I brought hot chocolate to the people working the security gate in my grandparents’ neighborhood. They were so surprised and appreciative, and it made me smile the rest of the day. 

The Week 50 Kindness Challenge is to donate a toy or book to a child in need this holiday season, and/or to drop off a donation at a local animal shelter. 

As always, blog about your experiences and include your links in the comments section below, or feel free to send me an email at dallaswoodburn AT gmail DOT com.

Have a marvelous week!
❤ Dallas

P.S.: Head on over to this Year of Kindness Challenge page to see all the archived posts from the previous 49 weeks!

Questions of the day:

  • How do you find zen in the midst of such a crazy-busy time of year?
  • What acts of kindness happened in your life this past week?

year of kindness challenge: week 14

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year of kindness button

Happy Monday, friends! How was your weekend? The weather has finally shifted from winter to sunny spring and I am LOVING it! Walking outdoors and soaking up the sunshine and fresh air is such a pleasure.

Speaking of spring, it seems fitting that the kindness challenge this past week was to give someone flowers. I gave flowers to two lovely people this week: my friend Shavonne, who aced her thesis defense {my defense is this Wednesday, eek!} and to the English Department Schedule Deputy Judy Ware, who is retiring this semester after many years of service. She is a really sweet lady and will certainly be missed at Purdue!

I picked up a couple pretty bouquets at the grocery store while I did my shopping for the week.

flowers

It was so much fun delivering them to Shavonne and Judy! Both were so surprised and excited to get flowers. Their faces lit up! It was the best $10 I have spent in a long time.

Judy sent me an email that afternoon:

“THANK YOU for the beautiful wishes and special card/good wishes.  I really appreciate your thoughtfulness. Enjoy finishing your degree and your academic next steps!!!”

This week’s kindness challenge pairs nicely with spring cleaning: go through your bookshelves and box up the books you no longer need or do not plan to read again. Then donate them to your local library, Boys & Girls Club, school or homeless shelter. You could also purchase some new books to donate. A great way to get children involved in this act of kindness is to have them pick out their favorite book to donate to a child who maybe does not have many books of his or her own.

{Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while may know that literacy is a cause very dear to my heart — you can learn more about my organization Write On! For Literacy here!}

As always, blog about your experiences and include your links in the comments section below, or feel free to send me an email at dallaswoodburn <AT> gmail <DOT> com.

Have a great week!
-Dallas

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year of kindness archives:
– week 1 challenge: donate items to those in need
– week 2 challenge: leave quarters & note at laundry machine
– week 3 challenge: write & send a kind handwritten note
– week 4 challenge: give hot chocolate to someone outside in the cold
– week 5 challenge: do something kind for a neighbor
– week 6 challenge: deliver valentines to a nursing home
– week 7 challenge: donate to a food pantry
– week 8 challenge: donate toiletries to a shelter
– week 9 challenge: post a kind note in a public place
– week 10 challenge: do something kind for a child
– week 11 challenge: thank someone in a genuine & meaningful way
– week 12 challenge: deliver baked goods to a fire station
– week 13 challenge: give someone flowers

march foodie pen-pals recap

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The Lean Green Bean

This was my first month participating in Foodie Pen Pals through The Lean Green Bean, one of my new favorite blogs! I had a ton of fun and am definitely looking forward to participating next month and into the future.

Here’s how it works: you visit The Lean Green Bean and enter your contact info to sign up for the next month of Foodie Pen Pals. Then the amazing Lindsay matches you up with two other bloggers or food lovers: one person to send a foodie package to, and one person who will send a package to you! Then you spend $15 putting together a box of fun, yummy treats for your pen pal, pop it in the mail, and eagerly await the arrival of your own foodie package!

Lisa from Lisa’s Lentils sent me a package this month. {Check out her great guest post recipe for vegan toffee bars!} She sent me a box filled with treats:

march foodie pp

  • 4 flavors of Justin’s almond butter, which I had never tried before but am now addicted to! So great spread on apples or toast or swirled into oatmeal.
  • a package of NanaCakes Oatmeal Baking Mix, which is a great base for pancakes, muffins, and bread.
  • Justin’s organic peanut butter cups — um, devoured these immediately after snapping this picture!
  • a pb&j flavored Lara bar: a great post-workout pick-me-up.
  • Chocolove Almonds & Sea Salt in Dark Chocolate bar … heavenly!
  • Celestial Teas Herbal Tea Sampler — I have loved pairing mugs of these teas with the rich dark chocolate. So satisfying!
I would encourage all of you to check out Lisa’s blog! And, if this kind of thing sounds fun to you, go sign up for April Foodie Pen Pals at The Lean Green Bean. It only takes two minutes and it is a blast to be a part of!
I’ll be back tomorrow with this week’s Year of Kindness challenge & recap post!

marvelous monday: grocery store surprises

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Happy Monday, everyone! I hope your Thanksgiving weekend wrapped up well and that you made it home safe if you were celebrating out of town. I am happy to report that Mike and I arrived back safely in Lafayette last night, with enough time to hit up the grocery store, do a bit of work, watch an episode of Arrested Development, put all of our clean laundry away {thanks, Mike’s mom, for letting us do laundry in your lovely machine instead of having to trek to the quarter-eating machines in our apartment complex!} and even put up a few Christmas decorations. The wreath is on our door and my mini tree is on display!

Sometimes it’s the smallest things that add a big smile to your day. I love surprises, and one of my favorite things is to discover a new treat when I’m browsing the grocery store. Look what I found last night:

PUMPKIN SPICE ENGLISH MUFFINS!

I know we are transitioning from autumn into winter, but I remain pumpkin-obsessed. And I’m okay with that!

I enjoyed every bite of a pumpkin spice English muffin for breakfast, half smeared with chocolate peanut butter and the other half with regular peanut butter. I can’t decide which topping I like better. I also want to try cream cheese. I might have to eat another one for a snack later to do further research! 😉

What grocery store finds have you been delighted with lately? Anyone else still obsessed with pumpkin?

Have a marvelous day!
-Dallas

happy halloween! :)

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Hi everyone! Hope you are having a spook-tacular Halloween today! Halloween is Mike’s favorite holiday so we have been celebrating all week month long with pumpkin decorations, listening to Halloween Pandora stations, watching ghost-hunting TV shows and scary movies {that I try not to pay too close of attention to … I am a total wuss when it comes to creepy/scary things!} and of course lots and lots of pumpkin-inspired food. {I will be sharing some of my favorite pumpkin recipes next week for a special Pumpkin Week on this blog — stay tuned!}

Do you like my ghost design?

My Halloween started off on a wonderful note last night when I came home to a package on my doorstep … and when I opened it up, I found the most beautiful bouquet of autumn flowers that my dad had sent to me for Halloween! It was such a sweet surprise! My dad always makes me feel so special and loved. I am a very lucky daughter. Now I get a huge smile on my face every time I look across the living room and see them on the table, brightening up the room!

Today I celebrated by making Halloween-themed cupcakes that I took in as treats for my freshmen students. {As I shared this summer, I tend to grow quite fond of my students and have a tendency of spoiling them with homemade baked goods.}

The best part about these cupcakes is the homemade chocolate frosting. I found the recipe on AllRecipes.com and tweaked it a little bit to use less butter but still taste rich and creamy. This frosting is a guaranteed way to make a box-mix cupcake taste gourmet and super special! These cupcakes could be decorated for any holiday or special occasion. I chose to decorate mine with candy corn for Halloween.

yellow cupcakes with chocolate fudge frosting

– 1 box yellow cake mix {I just used the Kroger brand that was on sale for $1}
– 3 eggs
– 1 & 1/3 cup water
– 1/3 cup vegetable oil or applesauce
– 1/3 cup butter or margarine
– 1/4 cup cocoa powder
– 1 tbsp vanilla extract
– 1 tsp cinnamon
– 3 cups confectioner’s sugar
– 4 tbsp half-and-half
– 1 small package candy corn

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a cupcake tin with liners and set aside.

2. Bake cupcakes according to package directions. I combined my yellow cake mix with the eggs, water, and oil and beat with a whisk until the ingredients were well combined and the batter was smooth.

3. Fill each cupcake tin 3/4 of the way full and bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

4. While cupcakes are baking, make the frosting. Melt butter in a small saucepan. Turn off the burner. Add cocoa powder and mix well; then stir in vanilla extract and cinnamon.

5. Pour sugar in to a large bowl. Add the chocolate mixture and the milk and stir until the frosting is smooth and creamy. It will be thick! You can add more milk or half-and-half if you would like it to be thinner.

6. Once cupcakes have cooled completely, frost each one with a generous amount of chocolate frosting.

7. Stick 3-4 candy corn pieces into each cupcake so their tops stick out decoratively.

Here they are all packed up and ready to go for my students!

Inspired by Deme at Fresh Coat of Paint to make use of what you have, I used a striped shirt and vest I already owned to dress up as a pirate. Anyone else using what they already have to dress up? Anyone make a homemade costume? One of my favorite-ever costumes was when I was a little girl, maybe four or five years old, and my dad helped me hand-paint cardboard butterfly wings that we tied to my shoulders with pink shoelaces. It didn’t cost us a single penny and I had so much fun preparing my costume, and when I wore it trick-or-treating I felt like the prettiest little butterfly! I still remember it vividly to this day. One of my favorite parts of Halloween is seeing all the creative, innovative and funny costumes!

Ahoy, matey!

Hope you are having a wonderful Halloween full of creative costumes, fun activities, and yummy treats! What are you doing to celebrate today?

-Dallas