Chasing dreams is scary business.

Did you hear? I’m selling my artwork for the first.time.ever.

I’ve always loved&hated the idea of selling my work. 
Loved the idea of reaching other people and connecting through what I create.  It’s a unique conversation and I love it.   
Loved the idea of the feeling of validation that would come with someone wanting what I made enough to buy it.  
Loved the idea of adding to the happiness in someone’s life with something I’d made that they’d see everyday.

Conversely I’ve always hated the possibility of such vulnerability and failure.  
Hated that it was possible that I’d put myself out there, and no one would be interested in what I had to offer.  
Hated the possibility that my art wouldn’t touch people. That it=I wasn’t good enough or talented enough.  

So for years (really though, years) I’ve just told people, “I don’t sell my work”. It’s safer, easier and it’s not scary either. 

Well, recently the timing and my current focuses, on home and happiness (and things that bring goodness into life), seemed right. So, I’ve made my work available to buy. 

And I’m still pretty scared to death. 

I don’t know how it will go, but it was time to chase this dream. 

My new Etsy shop {MichelleMakesArt} is now open, check it out here.

Here are some pieces you'll find up in the shop :)
<I'll keep an update of new pieces on my art blog.>

unexpected holiday.

Just before Christmas Kevin accidentally slept in  after spending the night sleeping with Lee in his room/bed. That in combination with the fact that the end of the year was fast approaching and he hadn't used much of his time off propelled him to decide to just take the day off.

I LOVE unexpected holidays.  Something about being all together when we aren't planning on it makes the smallest things seem so special. This was definitely one of those days. We got up and went for a run and stopped at a park on our way home.

Lee was in Heaven, having us to himself (Drew was uncommonly content in the stroller that morning) and being outside at a park. It was one of those moments, perhaps because it was unexpected, that I was reminded how special this stage of life is. Lee was in sensory overload and I loved the reminder of how wonderful the world is through a child's eyes.

This day ended up being one of my very favorite from our entire holiday. Yea for unexpected holidays.

Tomato, Basil and Parmesan White Beans.

Tomato, Basil and Parmesan White Beans.

This is a favorite of ours for a few reasons;

it is 250 calories per serving (1 cup), it takes 15 minutes total to make AND it is delicious. 

Picture a favorite pasta dish with creamy white beans instead of pasta.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans Great Northern, drained and rinsed

(or other white beans, but Great Northern are my favorite, hands down)

2 cans, tomatoes, petite diced

(any type works but I prefer the Italian-style or the kind with chili peppers to add some spice)

*when fresh tomatoes are available you can ALWAYS substitute fresh for canned

1 tsp Italian seasoning or Basil

*substitute fresh Basil if you can get it.

½ cup Parmesean cheese, grated (or the kind in the can)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

1.In a skillet, sauté the garlic in the olive oil.

2. Add beans, tomatoes and seasoning. (I don’t drain my canned tomatoes)

3. Cook for 7-10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

4. Add Parmesan cheese and lemon juice and stir until fully mixed/melted.

Serve with wheat crackers or a baguette. Fresh veggies or a salad make perfect sides.

This dish makes excellent leftovers too, which is a big deal around here.

Enjoy!

This recipe is based on one of our favorite dishes from Zonya’s Lickty-Split Meals. A cookbook we use more than most. Her meals are quick, healthy and easy. (win-win-win) I highly recommend picking this one up, we got ours on Amazon.

sautéed chicken, jalapeño and mushroom salad. (with some sugar, spice and everything nice…)

 We generally have a salad for at least one dinner a week, so we are always looking for ways to switch it up. This one was one of the best we’d made in a long time…delicious.

Salad Ingredients:

1/3 head romaine lettuce, chopped

feta cheese, crumbled on each serving, to taste

1-2 chicken breasts

1 jalapeño pepper, chopped

1 green onion, chopped

2-3 white mushrooms, thinly sliced

½ apple, chopped

¼ cup caramelized pecans:

¼ cup pecans, chopped

1 Tbsp. salted butter

½ cup brown sugar

poppy seed vinaigrette salad dressing (recipe here)

Whenever Kevin cooks it’s off the cuff so…I tried my hardest to get him to nail down what went into the chicken marinade for this salad.

Chicken Marinade Ingredients:

2-3 Tbsp. brown sugar

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

dash of salt

½ cup apple cider vinegar (or enough to cover chicken)

*for later:

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:

1.Mix up marinade in a Ziploc bag and add chicken. (Mixture should cover chicken when laid flat on it’s side…add apple cider until it does.)

*let marinade at least an hour

2.Caramelize about ¼ cup chopped pecans. (make more or less depending on how much you like this sweet element…)

Put about 1 Tbsp salted butter and ½ cup brown sugar in a pan. Once they’ve begun melting and mixing, add the chopped pecans and stir until the nuts are golden brown. Let cool on parchment paper.

3. Chop apple, green onion, jalapeño (remove seeds), set aside.

4. Slice mushrooms, set aside. (wash or remove the top layer)

5. If you don’t keep a supply of this dressing in the fridge, (like I do) make it now.

6. Chop lettuce, set aside.

7. Thinly cut the chicken breasts and sauté in olive oil with freshly minced garlic until about half cooked then add the chopped jalapeño and sliced mushrooms.  Sauté until chicken is cooked through.

8. Fill bowls with lettuce and top with sautéed chicken, mushrooms and jalapeño, green onion, caramelized pecans, apples, feta cheese and dressing.

Enjoy!

christmas party craziness: part two

ready to party.

Because a few of our friends thought quickly, we were able to throw together a fun little party with some of our friends before a few headed off for the holidays.  It was super low-key (theme of my life) and contained all the elements that make for a good time in my opinion; fun people, delicious food and good conversation.

Some of our friends have a sweet little guy a few months younger than Lee, they don't really play "together" as much as "near each other" yet, but they're sure to become great friends.

Cute little Ry-Guy.

Lee was super social the whole time...

A few of our friends suggested we make gingerbread houses. It was really fun...not all of us were as skilled (or dedicated) as others...but it was delightful.

can you tell this was the engineer collaboration?

We had such a fun time, it was such a great way to start the month off.

christmas party craziness: part one.

Christmas time is so fun and so insane.  I didn't know how it would be for us this year, staying home and being so far away from family, but we had so much fun with so many friends this holiday season.

One Saturday in early December we had back to back Christmas parties. The kids did better than i expected they would.
First we had a brunch with our church congregation.  I love breakfast so I quite enjoyed myself. Our good friends in the ward are professional (in all seriousness) french horn players and they played a few songs, it was delightful, even if the gym we met in didn't do them justice at all. Lee rocked out the whole time they played.

groovin'.

We headed straight over to Kevin's work for a Christmas party for families.  They had men on stilts, jugglers, face-painting, balloon tying, a breakfast bar (too bad I was already full...) and several Christmas-themed activity stations. Lee would only get a balloon animal.  He cried when we tried to get a Rudolf nose painted on his little nose. His favorite part of the event by far was the fact that the windows overlooked a lake. He cried, "wa-wa! wa-wa!" enthusiastically over and over.

"wa-wa"

yep. we were both done. :)

 We didn't stay too long because the boys (and their parents) were partied out, but we had a great time.

all smiles: christmas card outtakes.

Funny thing is we weren't even planning on using these pics for our Christmas card, I just wanted to snap a few pics of the boys to send my missionary siblings before they wrote the next day. (It's probably why they smiled, the pressure was off)

Some of these pictures really caught some classic faces that the boys always make too.  (love it when that happens)