• Cooking

    Healthy Snacks

    One of the reasons I love baking and sweets so much is because it’s a special treat for me. I eat healthy most of the time. Life is all about trying to find that balance. I switch from no sugar to… “I’ll have a large vanilla Blizzard with peanut butter cup and chocolate covered pretzels please!” It’s right up there with Ben and Jerry’s Americone Dream. Go ahead try it! Mmmmmm! Do you hate me now? This is supposed to be a post about healthy snacks. OK. Here’s what I eat most days. Spinach salad Almonds (plain) Apples A vegetarian dinner And these… Mix some chia seeds in Greek yogurt and you have a healthy snack that will…

  • Cooking,  Teaching

    Candy Cake

    While perusing Pinterest I found a piñata cake. I had to give it a try. Here’s the original version and recipe. Claire K. Creations: Lime & Macadamia Piñata Cake!  I’m not really a cake person. I’d much rather have a big bowl of ice cream but this cake was amazing! Claire’s already done all the work so pop on over to her page for the print-out recipe. It’s yummy! My first idea was to have a Back to School cake. I was thinking something along the lines of having a treasure chest on top and then yellow M&M’s as the gold treasure. The classroom theme could be: You are all treasured in Mrs. Rausin’s…

  • Inspiration,  Parenting,  Travel & Accessibility

    I Want to Turn Back the Clock

    I Want to Turn Back the Clock It’s been a crazy week in the Rausin house. Arielle and I returned from Illinois seven days ago and I’ve been trying to spend every minute I can with her because tomorrow she leaves for the Cayman Islands! A wonderful group by the name of Stay-Focused is going to teach her how to scuba dive. That girl of mine loves adventure! The week started out with me having a bit of a hissy fit (it’s allowed sometimes) because Arielle was leaving us to be with her friends and my heart couldn’t take it. Then I realized I needed to chill and appreciate the…

  • Inspiration

    Embrace Your Weirdness

    I’m strange. I know that and I’m finally coming to a point in my life where I’m accepting it. I don’t think like most people or so it seems to me. I have an ability to tune out the world and enter my own in a split second. I can be talking about one subject and immediately switch to another leaving any listeners confused. I start speaking out loud and then finish my sentences in my head not even realizing my mind has moved on and whomever I’m speaking to is still waiting for the end of my thought.                 My Top Ten…

  • Books & Writing

    Inside Every Book Lies the Heart of an Author

    Inside Every Book Lies the Heart of an Author “To those who can dream there is no such place as faraway.” Anonymous Everything that I have in my life began with a dream, a thought, a what if… Writing fiction takes the same bravery. I have an idea and I must believe that I can get to work and turn it into a book. It’s not an easy task. First, I have to trust that the story will present itself daily as I sit down to type. I have to fight all the demons that whisper and tell me I’m wasting my time. Eventually, I will give my story to an editor. Afterwards, I must…

  • Parenting,  Travel & Accessibility

    Together Again

    Together Again! While you’re reading this I’ll be on the road again. Are you hearing the Willy Nelson song? Fun fact: My brother and our friend David both met Willie Nelson and said he’s the nicest guy ever! I’m flying to Illinois to pick up…. Her I mean…her! And I won’t be making music like Willie. I’ll be listening to all the tunes Arielle chooses as we drive her truck from Illinois to Florida. She wants to make it home in a day but I know my limitations. A nineteen hour trip is best split among two days. Who knows where we’ll stop to sleep. Keep an eye on my KD Rausin Facebook…