It’s been almost a month now since my annual vision board party.  I love hosting the party. I always have some returning friends and this time many more newbies.  I LOVE introducing the concept of vision boards and teach others how to really work it.  However, I don’t give the time to myself to fully create and complete it during that weekend.  I usually need to soak on it for about a month.  I’m feeling ready to set my yearly intentions.

Here’s what I know to be true for me about the process of creating a vision board and tips about working it.

It opens me up to greater possibilities than I would have figured out on my own.  It takes me in wholly different directions than I intended.  This can be a beautiful thing.

Life does not obey our expectations. Life obeys our intentions, in ways we may not expect.  - Lloyd Strom

Vision boarding has me step outside of my history, what typically would have happened knowing my habits and patterns.  When you think about it, much of your life and those around you (because it’s easier to look outward than inward), is predictable.  We all have friends and family where we “know” what’s going to happen in their lives, right?  Same goes for you.

Live out of your imagination, not your history.  – Stephen Covey

Creating a vision board is an inspired process.  When I’m inspired, I feel uplifted, enhanced and on fire.  I love this charge, this kind of electricity surging through me.  I breathe it in everyday most days and reconnect with it.  It’s what “working” your vision board is all about.  Don’t let it become wall paper or hidden in your closet.  Put it where you will see it everyday.  (My board sits above my desk) Work it, girls!

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.  – Howard Thurman

A part of the practice is bringing that feeling-thought connection to it.  Remember how good it felt to have those good ideas, those synergistic moments in your cutting and girlfriend conversations.  Keep with it and keep connecting to it.  Look at what you created: your goals, your dreams.  Think about how good it will feel when you get there! And keep breathing that in.  That’s the powerful elixir.  Drink deeply.

Don’t let your fears and sensibilities take you in the moment.  Give the lighter, brighter side some power for a minute or two.  There are enough doubting Thomases out there to squash your ideas, you don’t need to add to their chatter.

The Universe knows all things and is responding to the vibration that you are sending.  When you are sending your vibration on purpose, you are orchestrating what the Universe is aligning for you. 

– Abraham Hicks

When I create a vision board, I am open to magic, crazy synergistic possibilities that are yet to be revealed to me.  I trust that inner voice, the one I need to listen to more often.  It is the deep waters in me that flow.  It’s my inner pilot light. I’m gonna let it shine.  Trust the process.  Believe.

There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself. It is the only true guide you will ever have. And if you cannot hear it, you will all your life spend your days on the ends of strings that somebody else pulls.  - Howard Thurman

If you haven’t created one this year, just do it. Find friends and create a wonderful afternoon doing it together.  You can thank me later with a bottle of wine.  Otherwise you may find yourself at the end of those strings again this time next year.

Do it. Work it. Believe in it.

Click for great quotes on the Word of the Month – Intention.

Follow the hashtag #NJAJWOTM on Twitter (@NtJstAnotherJen) to find out the Word of the Month for that Month. I’d love to hear what you have to say!

Also to see great images on Pinterest, I’ve created an Intention #WOTM board.

Cheers friends!

I dwell in possibility.  - Emily Dickinson

The smallest deed is better than the greatest intention.  – John Burroughs

If you use God with awareness and with intention, all things will change. – Neale Donald Walsh

All that counts in life is intention.  - Andrea Bocelli

I may err in judgment, but I hope not in intention.  - Edward Blake

I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be. – Douglas Adams

It is not good enough for things to be planned – they still have to be done; for the intention to become a reality, energy has to be launched into operation.   - Walt Kelly

Let your intentions be good – embodied in good thoughts, cheerful words, and unselfish deeds – and the world will be to you a bright and happy place in which to work and play and serve.
- Grenville Kleiser

A good intention clothes itself with sudden power.  – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The road to hell is paved with good intentions corrupted by our fears.  – Lloyd Strom

God’s Will is whatever we do with good intention.  – Lloyd Strom

Life does not obey our expectations. Life obeys our intentions, in ways we may not expect.
- Lloyd Strom

Hell is paved with good intention, not with bad ones. All men mean well.  – George Bernard Shaw

Just what is meant by ‘your word?’ It means your conscious intention, your conscious direction, your conscious faith and acceptance that, because of what you are doing, the Power of Spirit will flow through your word in the direction you give It.  – Ernest Holmes

Power is the capacity to translate intention into reality and then sustain it.  – Warren Bennis

Choose your intention carefully and then practice holding your consciousness to it, so it becomes the guiding light in your life.  – John Roger

If we fall, we don’t need self-recrimination or blame or anger — we need a reawakening of our intention and a willingness to recommit, to be wholehearted once again. Each decision we make, each action we take, is born out of an intention.  – Sharon Salzberg

Before you agree to do anything that might add even the smallest amount of stress to your life, ask yourself: What is my truest intention? Give yourself time to let a yes resound within you. When it’s right, I guarantee that your entire body will feel it.  – Oprah Winfrey

Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.  – William A. Foster

I have found these quotes and countless others at SacredDays.org, Inspiration Online, Brainy Quotes and Think Exist.

I also have a great board on Intention over at Pinterest if you would like to take a gander. Feel free to follow me over there. I’m a bit addicted.

And if you’re still reading this and you really want your mind blown, check out this TED Talk featuring Lynne McTaggart. She is an award-winning author of five books, including the international bestselling sensations The Field and The Intention Experiment. She is an internationally recognized spokesperson on the science of spirituality. For this talk she is asking the question, “Can collective intentions make things happen?” Grab a glass of wine and listen.  It’s intriguing and the possibilities are amazing.

Birthday Pancakes (our family tradition)

Dearest BigBoy,

My heart swells with pride and overflows with love every time I see you. You are a very special little boy. Last week you turned seven. I can hardly believe it. Seven. Every parent says the time goes so quickly and now I say it too. What a wonderful big boy you’ve become.

As a first grader (omg!!!), you are a super student. You now read very well and enjoy reading books. I giggled with delight after I “caught” you reading books in your closet last night when you should have been in bed. Having you read to me is a life’s treasure. You ace your math quizzes and almost always get your bonus spelling words correct. This has me beaming with parental pride. The best part of being your parent is always hearing how kind and polite you are in the classroom and when you go to other people’s homes. Thank you, thank you my little lovely! Hearing those words from other adults are like the angels singing to me.

This year you’ve really matured. You can now hang with the bigger kids on our block without crying or having meltdowns, and I hear that you can hold your own on the playground playing tetherball. While you are still a boy that deeply feels his feelings you keep them in check and let it go when it’s appropriate to do so. I respect your desire and need for “talk to myself time” (your down time) as wish I did that more for myself. I love when you confide in me and we get to talk things out together. I look forward to many more years of helping support you through life’s challenges.

Teaching Mom How to Drive at Autotopia at Disneyland

You have been a valuable teacher to me. Putting things very plainly and often with your kooky sense of humor, you have been a comfort and joy when I really needed it. One of the most favorite things that you say to me when I get stressed because your little brother is freaking out and things just aren’t going my way, you have on numerous occasions rubbed my arm and said, “Mom, I know it’s hard to be a parent. It will be okay.” Sometimes that’s precisely the reset that I need.

This past year you and Daddy have begun Adventure Guides through the YMCA. It is teaching you to be brave and a good young man. While this is excellent father-son bonding time, a friendship with Paolito has also been a wonderful gift of your manly camping weekends.

Brave Buddies at Adventure Guides

You and your buddies, Paolito, Reece, and Adrian, are all about Bey Blades (and you’ve even re-recruited some of the older kids on the block to play again!). You talk endlessly about the performance tips, energy rings and battle characteristics of all of the blades. You save your $2 allowance each week to buy your next favorite battler. I think you are a bit obsessed, but you play with such passion and save your money so well, that it’s delightful to see you scream,”3-2-1 Let It Rip!!!” You are kind and inclusive to your little brother such that it is a joy to see you two play together so well. BabyD admires you so.

The big gift this last Christmas was Wii Skylanders. Though your fixation on Bey Blades has yet to wane, you and your frieds are all about the different virtual characters of Skylander and I’m pretty awesome at Stealth Elf, if I do say so myself. I look forward to seeing your collection grow.

You are fun, playful, joyous and full of goodness. I am so proud to be your Mommy. Keep up the great work. Happy 7th year my BigBoy. Know that you are loved.

Your Mom,

Not Just Another Jen

California Chowder (a.k.a. Crab & Hominy Chowder)

3 slices of bacon
1 large leek
½ cup dry white wine*
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup hominy*, drained and rinsed
12 ounces red thin-skinned potatoes, scrubbed and cut into ½ inch chunks
1 tsp salt
1 (or more) avocado
1 tsp of lime juice
¼ cup whipping cream
8 oz. (or more) Dungeness crab*, cooked and shelled
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ cup olive oil
1 cup cilantro, chopped
2 fresh jalapeno chilies*, rinsed, stemmed and seeded
1 clove garlic

1. In a 4-6 quart pan over medium-high heat, cook bacon, chopped, until fat starts to render. Remove the bacon, wipe down the pan to leave just about teaspoon of fat and replace bacon in pan. Add white part of leek, halved, rinsed and thinly sliced. Stir until limp. Add wine and boil until almost evaporated. Add chicken broth, 2 cups of water, hominy, potatoes, and ½ teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until potatoes are tender when pierced, about 10 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, make cilantro purée by combining in a blender or food processor: vegetable oil, olive oil, cilantro, chilies*, garlic and salt to taste. Set aside.

3. Pit, peel and chop avocado. Mix with lime juice. Set aside.

4. Stir whipping cream, salt and pepper to taste, into chowder. Add crab. Cover and cook until heated through, stirring as little as possible to keep crab intact. Spoon chowder into bowls and top each with a tablespoon (or more) of the cilantro purée and a spoonful (or more) of avocado.

Because I originally found this recipe in Sunset Magazine (and one of the many reasons I love it so much), they suggest a wine pairing, “With the rich crab, pungent chile and herbal cilantro, we like a creamy, minerally Pinot Gris. Cline’s Pinto Grigio-Chardony blend (California; $11) is great as well.”

*Okay, now let’s really talk turkey or crab, as it is. Once I have bought real Dungeness crab at the market, but it proved too expensive for me and my budget. To tell you the truth, I always make this soup with canned crab, but don’t tell anyone. Cans come in 6 oz. varieties, just like tuna, so while it is not so authentically San Franciscan, to make up for the error of my ways, I add more crab (12 oz.) because I’m not about to throw it away! Don’t use imitation crab, it doesn’t work well with this dish. Yes, I tried it once.

I know the recipe calls for dry-white wine. Any white wine that you are drinking while cooking or have around will work. I’ve tried good wine and a $4.99 bottle and it all good.

Additionally, you may not know what hominy is. It’s corn that has been processed to remove the hull and germ. People in the south ground it down to make grits. Mexicans use hominy in soups. I can typically find a huge can in the International section of our grocery store for $0.99. Yes, I throw away what I don’t use. It was ninety-nine cents and I don’t feel bad about it.

Other things I’ve learned about this dish over the years:

• Contrary to my firm belief that more bacon is better, it’s not for this dish. If ever you add too much bacon (as I have) you can offset the flavor with the whipping cream pretty well.
• While I am a wuss when it comes to spicy food, I do put in one jalapeno in the cilantro puree. It’s well-seeded (to remove the spicy), and adds great flavor. The original recipe calls for two. You be the judge.
• Unlike the bacon, more avocados are always a good thing.
• Regular brown (russet) potatoes work too, but I’d suggest zapping them in the microwave for two minutes before adding them to the soup. The downside is that the skin falls off too easily and doesn’t look as pretty.

Enjoy!

Girlfriend Charming Chicken Salad

12 oz. of your favorite spring mix greens

1 cup sliced heart of palm

4 oz. crumbled gorgonzola cheese

2 avocados, sliced into bite-sized chunks

3 oz. candied pecans (we like the Sweet & Spicy Pecans from Trader Joe’s)

10 oz. chopped cooked chicken breast (approximately 2 breasts)

Dressing: Rapidly whisk together 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, juice from two lemons (preferably Meyer lemons) and 1 clove (or more to your preference) crushed garlic.  Salt to taste.

Toss salad together and top sparingly with salad dressing. Et voila! Enjoy friends and share with your girlfriends!

I’m talking about Intention, January’s Word of the Month.

Word of the Month is perfect for lazy memers like me (yes, I made up that word). I love the idea of some of the fabulous weekly writing memes out there, but I’m not as organized in my time or thinking to pull a post together each week. So, I’m giving myself,and you, a month. You can come up with something, right? Easy, breezy, lemon squeezy.

I’m also a bit of a word nerd. I love looking up words in the dictionary. I also enjoy reading how a word lands differently for me than it does for you. Words have various meanings through our experiences of life. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this month’s word, Intention. So sit, think, have a drink and write. What does this word, Intention, bring up for you?

Here’s how we do it… If you have a blog, link up below and please add my Word of the Month button to your post. If you don’t have your own blog, I love guest posters! Send me an email to JenH {at} NotJustAnotherJen {dot} com. The link up and guest post opportunity is good till the last day of the month at midnight (but don’t expect me to add your guest post if you send it to me past 6:00 p.m. on the last day, I’m on Family Time then Relax-and-Get-Away-From-The-Computer-Time).

You can follow the posts on Twitter for quotes, new Pinterest pins and posts under the hashtag #NJAJWOTM. You can also find cool related stuff on my Pinterest Board #NJAJ-Intention.

To get your brain thinking, here is Dictionary.com’s version of the January’s Word of the Month:

Intention [in-ten-shuhn] noun
1. an act or instance of determining mentally upon some action or result.
2. the end or object intended; purpose.
3. intentions,
a. purpose or attitude toward the effect of one’s actions or conduct: a bungler with good intentions.
b. purpose or attitude with respect to marriage: Our friends are beginning to ask what our intentions are.

Synonyms
Goal. INTENTION, INTENT, PURPOSE all refer to a wish that one means to carry out. INTENTION is the general word: His intention is good. INTENT is chiefly legal or literary: attack with intent to kill. PURPOSE implies having a goal or determination to achieve something: Her strong sense of purpose is reflected in her studies.

Thanks for your consideration and playing with me. Have fun!

Sausage & Bean Bake

1 cup chopped medium onion

1 16 oz. package of favorite chicken sausage (or the like) cut into 1/4-inch thick slices (We love Aidell’s sausages)

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

16 oz. low sodium chicken broth

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp tomato paste

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

3 16-oz. cans of beans, rinsed and drained – I used one kidney bean, one black bean and one pinto bean (it’s what I had in the cupboard!) The original recipe* called for cannellini or another white beans.

1 bay leaf

1/8 tsp ground red pepper (optional)

3 1-oz. slices of bread (We used wheat bread because that’s what we have.)

1 Tbsp. Italian Seasoning

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Heat an ovenproof Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and sausage and saute for 5 minutes or until browned. Add garlic and saute 2 minutes. Stir in broth, scraping pan to loosen brown bits. Stir in brown sugar and next 5 ingredients. Add red pepper, if desired. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and let simmer for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and discard bay leaf.

3. While simmering, chop the bread into tiny cubes about 1 centimeter big.

4. Sprinkle bread chunks evenly over sausage mixture. Bake for 15 minutes or until browned. Sprinkle with Italian Seasoning.

*Original recipe is called Sausage & Bean Casserole from 2009 Cooking Light The Essential Dinner Tonight Cookbook, but I riffed off the recipe based on what I had on hand and that I didn’t want to haul out the food processor for three slices of bread. What can I say? I’m quick and easy.

Cheers & enjoy!