Christene Houston's Blog: Christenehouston.com, page 8

Obsessed {Recipe}

Does anyone else have a compulsive pumpkin issue? Marrying my hubby only made mine worse. Before I met him, I was a fan of pumpkin recipes, but throw in his tendency to love pumpkin desserts and…well, you understand. Now each time I see a pumpkin recipe out there I immediately pin it to try in the future.

Since school began I’ve been the best mom ever, preparing a snack every afternoon for my cute and often ravenous kiddos when they get home. I really do this for my own safety. The goal is to avoid having them munch through a wall or take down a leg of ham or something…though I don’t have a leg of ham around so you can understand the urgency to have something ready for them to sink their teeth into before the walls are in danger. I cannot believe how hungry learning makes them! Usually we opt for healthy snacks like PB and apple slices, sliced cukes and carrots or string cheese and crackers. But on Fridays I turn the tables and go for broke with Cookie Fridays. Yeah, you know you want to come visit on Fridays now, dontcha?

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites by Eat, Live, Run

Well, this Friday I combined the family obsession with Pumpkin and our Cookie day with this recipe from Eat, Live, Run to make some really delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake Bites. *Sigh* Pumpkin + Cheesecake + Bite sized = BLISS!! And my walls are safe for one more day.

If you have a similar delight in pumpkin or you need another idea for Cookie Fridays at your house…or perhaps you don’t live under the mistaken notion of needing an excuse for a delicious treat, then please, check out my Obsessed with Pumpkin board on Pinterest and try this recipe.

 

Writing

The kids are back in school.

My littlest is involved in preschool – a wonderful mess of coloring, fingerpaints and using scissors for the first time (well…officially. He’s already tried to cut hair around here, but we’re having selective memory loss on that one.)

The best part is a couple hours every day of delicious silence.

My belly is still swelling, making it harder to reach the keyboard, but I’m writing like no tomorrow. Gilbert and Amelia are thick into it and I can’t wait to see what happens to them. Here’s a little teaser of what I’ve been writing lately.

 

 

Weekend Inspiration

I love how Anne of Green Gables talked about sipping the honey of a comment while discarding the sting. This is a part of everyday life. There are so many people who walk around ready to cast barbs at whomever they meet, friend or foe, as they battle through their own daily struggles. How pleasant to be able to disregard these little arrows for what they are, reflections of another person’s fight to find themselves, and NOT reflections of who we are. It’s a long and tedious lesson to learn, but one that gives us greater power over who we are and how we look at the world around us.

See You Again

Currently obsessed with this song by Carrie Underwood:

I blast it everytime it comes on and please forgive me if you’re a sobbing mess at the end of this video (maybe that’s just me and the hormones – but seeing military families reunited gets me every.single.time.) I love it. It reminds me of Jenna and her Dad and that sweet promise of being together again. (Get your copy of A Heart So Broken here!) It also reminds me of  another book I’ve written about lovers separated by duty. Can’t wait until I can share more with you! In the meantime, crank it up and Enjoy!!

Waiting in Anticipation

Waiting in anticipation.

I’m sure you’re thinking that this movie is the one I’ve been drooling over.

Honestly, I think it will be good, but I’ve been a bit more focused on the media blitz surrounding this one:

Austenland.

It has a lot to do with these two ladies:

After all the hype (and subsequent dissing of Ms. Meyer and her books) you might find this surprising. But it was reading the work of these ladies and drawing the parallels between their lives and mine (young mothers, lots of little ones keeping them running, a passion for writing) that helped me overcome my initial reticence at writing myself. Their example of determination to get published made me think I could do it too regardless of the many factors that said I shouldn’t. A few years later, I have one book published (A Heart So Broken out last November) and several more just waiting for the right publisher to pick them up.

There is nothing like a normal person doing extraordinary things to make you think you can do them too. I love that!

These two young ladies have written amazingly successful books. (Shannon Hale’s Princess Academy and Book of a Thousand Days are some of my favorites). They have also made movies from their books. I’m smitten by the fact that the timeless Jane Seymour is involved in this project and just adore what I’ve seen of Keri Russell. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? They seriously make this little girl hope!

I applaud them with delight and hope for their continued success. I also hope this movie is as great as I’m dreaming it will be. I’ll let you know when I go this week. It opens here on the 13th. I’m thinking a bit of fun should surround this little outing with the ladies. I simply cannot wait!

Who are the people or books that have inspired you?

Weekend Inspiration

Phoenix Road Trip

Summer has been delightful. I spent a handful of days in Phoenix, AZ visiting the book club of my dear friend Amanda, and spending every free moment thereafter swimming and playing and talking until it was way too late for sane people to be awake. There is something amazing about friendships that span time and miles as though you had only been together the day before. You walk into each others arms years apart and there is no change, only a constancy of affection, a deepening of understanding, a tenderness of spirits that cannot be faked or pretended.

As was my mode this summer, I forgot to take picture of the book club meeting. It was intimate and delightful. I spent a good two or three hours combing through A Heart So Broken with great questions from these lovely readers. We talked writing and letting go of criticism. We talked about our families and the importance of role models in writing for our young people. We TALKED. We ate homemade cinnamon rolls from heaven. We sipped a tasty concoction while we were talking and nibbling.

There is something truly amazing about getting people together to talk about books. I love being in the middle of it and feel truly privileged when my book is the center of attention. My favorite moment is answering a question that has been bugging someone and knowing that my answer brings them a sense of contentment.

And just because it should be shared, I’m including the recipe for that delicious drink I mentioned. You should seriously try it out:

Amanda’s

Crystal Light – ½ pouch

Crystal Light Lemonade – ½ pouch

Ginger Ale

Ice

Happy Labor Day!!

Weekend Inspiration

Need a Read?

Going out of town for Labor Day?

Driving or flying somewhere for a last hurrah to stretch out the warmth and delights of summer?

If you are, you definitely need something to read,

whether it is in the name of being a generous co-pilot (this one will keep you awake into the night as attested to by 80% of my readers who have reported back), or a reason to tune out the sweet but slightly annoying question from your backseat drivers “Are we there yet??”

Order your copy of A Heart So Broken today on Amazon.com, or B&N.com OR get your e-copy right this second from my website to your Kindle, Nook or any other fabulous device.

You won’t be sorry.

You will be sleepless, but take it from one person who has been known to read late into the night to finish a book to another – it’s always worth it!