Anna by Katie

Italian Pizza for the people I love

Continuing with my emerging need to photograph everything I cook I present to you dinner tonight.

PIZZA!

I used a pre-made crust topped it with marinated artichoke hearts (the big jar from costco) and black olives, salt and peper to taste and thats it. Everyone loved it because it was so simple so you could really taste the artichokes and black olives. We had it with orange juice  and my daughter also had some fresh cut up mangoes (her request)

This was the quickest meal to make, about 10 minutes prep time, 15 minutes in the oven and all done. By side stepping the cheese it was a lot lighter then a traditional pizza and we where all surprised by how tasty it was.

I'm now inspired to try some other pizza combination's without the cheese or sauce.

My Photos of Dinner Tonight

We've been heading out into the back garden to eat a lot lately. Summer time in Hawaii permits us to enjoy the outdoors till late into the afternoons.  The kids seem to eat more when were eating outside and everyone is more relaxed and happy to just gander on and talk nonsense for a while.

Tonight I made steamed zucchinis and cauliflower with a light homemade savoury yeast and olive oil dressing, fried tofu with onion topped our quinoa, a simple tossed salad made from organic greens (yay for the CSA delivery) and on the side we had some big papa dams which are an Indian appetizer.

The kids always love the papa dams and devour about 3 each! Its fun to add them to the meal every so often. My little boy eats steamed zucchini likes I do chocolate, its crazy!

I could not decide which photograph I liked better,  for me the closer ones seems to be the better shot but then I also enjoy seeing more of the setting in the other one. You can click on the photo to see it closer up.  I'm really enjoying taking photos of our meals it inspires me to cook healthier and better meals because they always look better in photos!

Tea for One in the Garden

These divine little Chocolate Spiced Rugelac, which I orderd from fellow etsian fancythatcookies,arrived the day after my chemo but alas! I was not feeling well enough to eat anything but soup.

 

I started to feel the wind beneath my wings again today and celebrated with a little afternoon tea in the back garden. It was such a magical moment, breathing in peaceful thoughts I feel ready again to face the world after being knocked off my feet.

 

After each chemotherapy session it takes a few days or maybe even a week to get back on my feet and its that day when I realize that I’m starting to feel better that I celebrate with a little something special, a moment of peace to reflect that we can get through anything if our heart is strong and supported by love and care.

 

I realized today that even though I do have a nasty and horrible disease, scleroderma,  its just a big battle as compared to all the little battles that we all face every day. I may be given something a bit tougher then most other people but it’s the underlying battle that is the same for each and everyone of us. No matter what we are facing I feel that the true battle is to not get lost in the pain and suffering and get caught up in the misery or self pity. We need to take shelter in those things that are true and sincere in our lives and work towards being the best person we can be no matter what we are facing.

 

I took a photo of my mini tea party as the sun set in our back garden. Here’s to many more tea parties to come!

Tomorrow is 3rd dose of Chemotherapy

Most of you don't know this bust I have a rare and potentially fatal disease called diffuse systematic scleroderma. Its a debilitating disease that constantly tries to take from my life the possibility of a future.  I have had this disease for 3 years now, I went from a young energetic mom with the whole world at my finger tips to living in this body that now operates at the pace of an old lady.

Scleroderma causes a buildup of excess collagen which hardens and turns into scar like tissue which surrounds joints, lays underneath the skin and affects internal organs. The hands and fingers become disfigured and bent into this claw like shape which has most of us suffering from this disease remembering the days when opening a water bottle was never a thought.

It is a complex disease that affects so many parts of the body that it can get confusing sometimes as to what is going on exactly. The scleroderma has gone into my lungs which basically means it is creating scar tissue in my lungs and is slowly rendering my lungs useless, or slowly suffocating the body.

This is why I am doing chemotherapy with cytoxan (cyclophosphamide) to try and halt the progression of the disease in my lungs. I do a once a month infusion at the hospital which takes 7 hours.  Tomorrow is my 3rd dose. After each session the wind is knocked out from under my feet. Its a miserable experience with the side effects lasting about 1 week. 

I will do another 4 months of chemotherapy at which point will will evaluate if its slowing the progression of the disease in my lungs, if it is then I will continue of to finish up a 2 year cycle of chemotherapy. If it is not helping (which is a very likely) then I will be looking into the possibility of adult stem cell transplant in Washington.  Why does that scare me so much?  They are having incredible success with adult stem cell transplant completely halting this disease in its tracks but the though of taking those risks, which are high, leaves this huge black pocket in my heart of dread and anxiety.

So even though this is becoming my story, one which I would rather have nothing to do with, it is now my reality and a huge part of determining what I am capable of doing now. I am a fighter and I will fight this disease as long as possible.  Having 2 young children gives me no choice and no time to lay down and say its all too much, I fight to be here for them to be their mother for as long as god will allow me to be.  

At this point in my life I can simply sum up my reality as fighting for my breath. This disease is trying to suffocate my lungs but I am fighting for the right to breath, to breath so my little babies can have a mother for as long as possible. 

My first ACEO's (Mini little Art Card Edition Originals)

 
I made my first ACEO's all my wonderfully creative artistic friends have been telling me to give it a go for months now but who has the time for them!? well I did it and I love them and I'm going to make lots more of them.

I've been inspired to make smaller canvas paintings maybe some 3x3's. The whole idea of mini little paintings is so delicate and just down right adorable. I'm excited to paint tonight on some mini minis!

I hope everyone is having a happy Tuesday evening.

Inspirational Women: Cathy Nichol

So browsing etsy like I always do I stumbled upon cathys shop. I am completely jealous of her painting abilities and style. So beutiful and whimsical and they would go wonderfully in either a childrens room or an adults room actually for that matter I would put them anyplace in my home!

Hello Summer 3 (Painting by Cathy Nichol)

So having fallen in love i surfed on over to her blog and I'm stoked because shes a mom as well. So here she is getting added to my list of inspirational women because well simply she inspired me to be a better person today because I want to paint just like her.

Mock Chicken Noodle Soup

I tweeted earlier  that I feel like making mock vegetarian chicken noodle soup today which reminded me that I photographed the recipe last time I made it! So for your viewing pleasure here is what mock chicken noodle soup looks like. Everyone loves this soup, its thick and creamy but oh so healthy. There is never any left overs no matter how big I made the pot of soup.

We always eat it with a crusty Italian loaf of bread and butter, I know I know its so bad I make a healthy soup and then we pile on the fat with our bread and butter! we have to stop that, but bread and butter..... oh its the devil.

My kitchen is a bit dark so next time I photograph in the kitchen I'm going to try the camera on a tripod so I can expose the light.

I love photography food! I just have to practice practice practice and I might actually hit on it one of these days.

If you want the recipe for this soup email me artbykatieanna@gmail.com and I will send it right over.

Todays inspirational women

In honor of my pledge to show you what inspires me. I have chosen to feature a different women each day who blogs and creates and does it all! Today sharon montrose is that women.

Discovering this world of blogging has been a wonderfully eye opening experience for me. It has been unbelievably inspiring. I have come across so many wonderful women who are so talented and creative and I have not found so many people that I wish I could emulate before!

I was blown away by sharon montrose photography and success in her work. Reading her blog and browsing her photos on etsy  shop was very bad for me because I wanted to buy so many! I cannot decide which 3 prints to buy to put in my bathroom. I know odd right? animals in the bathroom but when I looked at her pictures thats the first place I thought for them to go. They make me laugh so who doesnt need a good laugh when they are on the toilet!

Take a look at these divine pillows she made. This for me is the essence of creativity, something completely new to me.

I joined a weekly CSA farm (community supported agriculture)

After a couple years of hearing about this wonderful idea I finally did it. I joined one nearby in waimanalo here in hawaii.This is their site - www.just-add-water.biz

For $40 a week I will be receiving 2 boxs, like the one above, of greens and leafy vegetables and also one box of fruits.  I am excited to see what actually comes in the boxes. Its seasonal so whatever they are growing is what I'm going to get. I hope I get mangoes in my fruit box, its mango season here in hawaii right now I'm lusting after mangoes.

I will keep you posted and let you all know how the experience goes or what arrives in those boxes.

So excited I hope I'm not disappointed!

Real Friendship

I received this from a dear friend and thought it wonderful to pass along.

A man was exploring caves by the Seashore.  In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls.  It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake.  They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him.  As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.

He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock .  Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!

Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls.  Each contained a similar treasure.  He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left.

Then it struck him.  He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves.  Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!

It's like that with people.  We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel.  It doesn't look like much from the outside.  It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it.

We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy.  But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person.

There is a treasure in each and every one of us.  If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.

May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay.

May we see the people in our world as God sees them.

I am so blessed by the gems of friendship I have with you.  Thank you for looking beyond my clay vessel.