a quote.

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

{William Ernest Henley}

Color

If the Color Run comes to your city, you should sign up.

So fun.

{thankful thursday}

Today I am thankful to be employed, to be in good health, and to have air conditioning in 103° weather. I am thankful for fun plans this weekend (especially this) and shopping on lunch breaks. I am thankful for summer and new possibilities.

Alt Summit Classes & Bing

I don't expect to ever be a full-time blogger, photographer, designer, or stylist, but it sure is fun to dabble with a bit of it all. Last year I took an InDesign course from Nicole's Classes, and I've been wanting to take a photography class since purchasing my DSLR over two years ago. 

Well, guess what? Thanks to Bing, I can take two Alt Summit classes for free. Class options include topics from photography to organizational skills to analytics. I'm for sure planning to take DSLR 101. (Maybe one day my camera will reach its full potential.) The other ones I'm leaning toward are Graphic Design for Bloggers or Technical Writing for Bloggers. I'd love to know some more basics in the big, bad world of design, but I'm always up for a writing class. Hmm, how does one choose?

If you're interested in taking a couple free classes too, here is all you need to know. Pretty simple, huh? I'm giddy with excitement already. Thanks Bing!

Homemade Black Bean Burgers

Yesterday we had a few friends & their dogs over for an afternoon cookout. One of the friends is a vegetarian so instead of our typical meat on the grill, we made black bean burgers. They were super tasty!

• Ingredients

  • 1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
  • 1/2 onion, cut into wedges
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs

  Directions

  1. If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and lightly oil a baking sheet.
  2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
  3. In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Then stir into mashed beans.
  4. In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce.
  5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four patties.
  6. If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

a story for tomorrow

"Life is filled with so many exciting twists and turns. Hop
off the straight and narrow whenever you can and take the
winding paths. Experience the exhilaration of the view from
the edge. Because the moments spent there, that take your
breath away, are what make you feel truly alive."
 
{Stacey Charter}