Drops of Awesome

An Awesome Book Tour

November 20, 2014 by Kathryn

This week I get to be an author on tour. The sentence I first came up with to begin this post was, “This week I get to pretend to be an author on tour,” but if we’re sticking with the Drops of Awesome belief that in the small moments of doing great things, we actually become the people we dream of being, then today? Tomorrow? I am a rock star author. I am leaving my home to go somewhere different and promote my book. I’m on tour.

Drops of Awesome!

I’ll tell you what there will be on this tour. Books. And good food. And great friends. And LOTS of vitamin C.

I’ve been fighting a cold since Saturday. Oh what a fierce battle it has been, but so far, so good. Thanks to some great advice from people who live on Facebook – *HI PEOPLE WHO LIVE ON FACEBOOK* – I have boosted the heck out of my immune system so the germs keep doing their worst but my body keeps shoving them back down.

This trip is something I’ve wanted to do since I wrote the original Drops of Awesome blog post in 2012. I have family and friends in Utah and a whole bunch of readers there, readers who should be friends and who hopefully will be after this weekend. I went to school there and I’ve been wanting to go back and connect with a bunch of people who have supported Drops of Awesome from the first day I put it online.

When you publish a small book, and honestly nearly any-sized book these days, you mostly promote it yourself. There aren’t big, extravagant book tours and I get it. They don’t really sell that many books. But this trip isn’t about selling books. Okay. It’s a little bit about selling books, as evidenced by the orders placed by Barnes and Noble for my events and the fifty-ton suitcase full of Awesome reading material I checked at the baggage counter. Mostly though, it’s about meeting people. And spreading Awesome. And seeing my new niece in person for the first time. And playing games with my sisters. And buying new clothes so I can be on TV because it is a fact that you can never be on TV wearing clothes that have been worn previously.

A word about the outfit. I love the outfit. The outfit took me three hours of concentrated shopping to find. The email from KSL recommended that I not wear black, white, red, patterns, sparkles… the list went on. Now, all of these recommendations were specifically to help me look better on TV and I’m grateful for them, but, MAN it was hard to find an outfit to meet those specifications. I did. It is accidentally purple. I know. Weird.

Now I talked about how I’m doing a lot of the promotion myself, but I’ve been lucky to work with a publisher that has a small staff of talented publicists who work way too many hours and they’ve helped me out a ton putting this Utah trip together and with other marketing stuff. When I said, “Utah,” they said, “How high?” and then they helped me schedule radio and TV interviews and book signings all in one weekend to maximize the trip.

And they’re not the only ones to hook me up. My brother-in-law offered to buy me a plane ticket down there with his bounteous air miles, and my family and friends have offered up so many spare beds, sofas, and air mattresses, I could stay for three weeks and sleep in a different bed each night.

It’s Wednesday night and I’m on a plane from Seattle to Salt Lake City. Sitting alone. Well, not alone exactly. But no one is asking me for snacks or where the potty is, or telling me their ears feel funny. It’s a strange way to travel.

Dan and several of my lady friends are taking care of the kids this week, getting them to their band practices and performances, Cub Scout meetings, music and dance classes, birthday parties and a whole lot of school. I’m super grateful because the truth is? I’m really excited for this time to get away to talk to people about ideas I’m passionate about. What could be more fun than this?

Event details can be found here.

My BYU Radio interview with Kim Power Stilson from earlier today can be found here.

I’ll be on Studio 5 with Brooke Walker on KSL in Utah on Friday at 1:00pm MST. (Link to come)

The pictures in this post are from a recent book talk and signing at King County Library in Duvall. Below are pictures of me making crazy-sauce faces while I speak. You know you want to see that in person! If you’re in Utah, come see me.

Santa Sent Me a Letter – Discount Code

November 13, 2014 by Kathryn

I never wondered why Santa didn’t write back to me. I knew. That guy was WAY WAY WAY too busy to write letters to every single kid. Sure, Christmas Eve magic could allow him to break into the home of every kid in the world, reverse-robbery-style, but I thought letter writing would be a waste of that power. I didn’t expect a letter. But it would have made my DECADE if I had gotten one.

Well, things have changed. We’re in the digital age now and Santa’s got mad skills and communication tactics. For the past several years, the fat man has sent a free personalized video message to my kids using the PNP. When they’re 70 and I’m 90, I will still be making sure they get a video from Santa. We love these so bad.

This year I discovered a new way to hear from Santa and I’m excited about it. SantaSentMeALetter.com. It’s digital world meets old school Christmas charm, internet form meets sealing wax. The company let me go through the process and request a Santa letter for my youngest and it was a HUGE hit.

The girl who begs for mail every day and shouts with glee when I tell her that the political smear flyer with a picture of our state senator behind bars stomping on puppies is special mail for her was overjoyed to get a real letter addressed to her from one of her favorite superheroes.

It came in an envelope with a postmark from the North Pole and the letter inside was sealed with red sealing wax. She couldn’t rip it open fast enough.

Then the letter itself was personalized, talking about our family, her big life goal to stay in bed ever, our faith, and her favorite toys and friends. She proceeded to carry it around with her all night, periodically asking any literate person in her path to read it again.

It was sweet and we loved it. If you’d like to try sending your child a letter from Santa, they’re about ten bucks and well worth it, but you can get 15% off now through December 1st, if you use the code DARING2014. It seems early, but it’s really not if you think about prep and shipping time. Christmas is coming, you guys!!

So how do you best communicate with the fat man in red?

Rangel Love

November 10, 2014 by Kathryn

Wanda has a best friend. They share a lot in common. They both love Captain America. They love to play together. They’re both amazing artists and pass notes back and forth during church. I have taught both of their classes at church, although not at the same time. They aren’t exactly the same age.

They both love gum.

According to Wanda, if they were both robots, this is what they’d look like.

Although Wanda’s best friend’s parents pronounce her name “Rachel,” we’re pretty sure it’s pronounced, “Rangel.” At least, that’s how Wanda says it. I’ve heard it both ways.

If Wanda had to choose between Rangel and ice cream, she’d choose Rangel. When Wanda had to choose one friend to have over for her birthday, she chose Rangel. If Wanda had a choice between me and Rangel, well… we will never give her that choice.

You’ve got to love a 16-year-old who will give up her Sunday night to spend it celebrating the birthday of her biggest littlest fan. We love you, RANGEL!

Put it In the Past

November 3, 2014 by Kathryn

Wanda the Vlogger

October 28, 2014 by Kathryn

I was at the blood store waiting to have my blood taken when Wanda got bored. She asked if she could take pictures on my phone. I handed it over and she immediately started vlogging. This both delights and scares me.

When I was growing up, I wanted to record things so I carved pictures of myself into stone or recorded my voice on a cassette tape. These were not live streaming, sharable mediums. I could be an idiot and my parents, siblings and a couple of friends were the only ones who knew about it.

Now my kids can share their wisdom with the whole world. Instantly. I’m not ready.

Also.

My feet do not stink.

Powerless in Seattle

October 28, 2014 by Kathryn

I’ll be honest. We don’t actually live in Seattle. We just claim it because it has one of the five coolest Space Needles of any of the surrounding cities. Our small town is about 45 minutes outside Seattle. But I’d bet my IKEA solar lantern that you’ve never heard of my town so just picture a forest outside Seattle when you think of me and you’ll be about right. A forest past the cow fields.

When the power goes out here, it’s not playing around. This isn’t a small flicker and then BOOM it’s back. No. When the wind blows and the power goes out here, it is the result of the surrounding Ents growing restless and throwing their bodies down across the power lines in a fit of rage. This happened on Saturday night.

The longest we’ve ever been without power was a little over a week . It was cold but fun at first and then super not fun with little freezing kids in the dark and no internet. In 2006 *GASP* we didn’t have smart phones with access to Instagram during an emergency! I know. It makes me cry a little too.

This time around, most of King County had power restored within 24 hours. But we were in this strange pocket right in the middle of our town that didn’t. While everyone around us was relieved to have power, we were still pioneering it… with our house-wired generator and our cute candles and our gas stove and oven in which we baked chocolate chip cookies and our smart phones with 4G internet access.

So yeah. We weren’t like pioneers at all. But we couldn’t use the washing machine or the dishwasher effectively. So, there’s that.

At first the kids were bummed to have to get up and go to school at stupid-o-clock in the morning during a power outage that only affected about 50 homes in our district, but then they became increasingly enamored with the happy drama of it all, to the point that Laylee’s response to the restored power this morning bordered on what my phone has been autocorrecting “outage” to for the past few days – “OUTRAGE.”

It was funny following the community discussion boards on facebook and people were complaining about the power being out and I kept thinking, “…You say from your magically charged smart phone.” I know people were cold and we were blessed to have a fireplace and a generator, but we really do live in a pretty cushy day and age.

Start up the generator so we can watch a movie by candlelight!

And the power came back on this morning. That’s right. We were without electricity for about 55 hours, spanning four days. And we LIVED!

I even learned to hookup, fill, and run the generator. It’s one of those things I’ve always sort of relegated to Dan, along with checking mouse traps and teaching saxophone lessons. But no more. I have claimed my lady power and am fully capable of juicing our house in an emergency.

Like any disaster, we found a few holes where we could stand to be more prepared, but mostly things just went really smoothly. I’m stoked. It’s taken us nearly a decade of living in the “wilderness” but I finally feel ready for almost any moderate power-related disaster where our home is still habitable. Next step. Earthquake prep.

Pasta e Fagioli

October 24, 2014 by Kathryn

This was a fun fall recipe to make with the man cub, adapted from For the Love of Cooking. Warm, delicious, fairly nutritious and easy to heat up in a thermos for lunch the next day. I also doubled it and froze half to save for another night. (Freezer instructions further down)

You start by sautéing half an onion in 2 teaspoons of olive oil until they’re soft and translucent. I believe that 83.4% of good recipes start this way.

Then comes the magical italian sausage of joy. 12-16oz, depending on the size of the package you buy. More can only be better, right. Break it up as you cook it so the pieces are small and cooked through.

Add 4 cloves or minced garlic or just a big old spoon full. This was for a double batch.

Next add 4 cups of chicken broth and 28 ounces of pureed tomatoes. I just threw diced tomatoes in the blender.

Stir in your spices, 1 tsp dried basil, 1/2 tsp dried oregano, a pinch of crushed red pepper, and salt and pepper to taste. My family hates spicy but I still threw in the pinch of red pepper flakes. It just gave it a tiny bit of warmth but I got no complaints and my people are GOOD at complaining about too much spice.

Cover and let it simmer for as long as you feel like. Thirty minutes should be fine but two hours is better. Who has two hours to simmer?

Then bring the soup to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions. I love smaller pasta in this dish but feel free to use whatever kind you like.

When the pasta is cooked, add 2 or more cups of chopped fresh baby spinach and 2 Tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley.

Stir to wilt and warm it all and then serve hot with grated parmesan on top.

For a freezer meal, do everything through the long simmer. Then cool and freeze in a Ziploc bag. Chop the spinach and parsley and freeze in a smaller Ziploc. Then assemble as directed.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:2]

The Scary Thing About Halloween – FedEx Safety Kit Giveaway

October 22, 2014 by Kathryn

Who loves free stuff? Tell me what you’re going to be for Halloween in the comments section and FedEx will send five of you Trick-Or-Treat Bags full of stuff to keep your little ghosts and goblins safe this October 31st.

I’m pretty much done with scary movies. There came a point in my adult life when I decided that there were enough legitimately scary things in the world so maybe self-induced terror for fun wasn’t gonna be a priority for me anymore.

BUT

I like the cute, pretend terror of Halloween.

Creepy ghosts with inexplicable werewolf teeth.

Witches.

What-Does-the-Fox-Says.

Shudder.

It’s funny that we play at fear during this holiday but almost no one wants to be actually scared. However, kids are running around in the dark on the street with obstructed vision and children are twice as likely to be killed by a car on Halloween than on any other night. That’s partly because any other night they would be in bed. But since, on the 31st, they won’t be, FedEx is teaming up with Safe Kids to help keep scaring fun this Halloween.

Here are few of their suggestions:

Top safety tips Safe Kids and FedEx recommend for parents:
• Cross the street safely at corners, using traffic signals and crosswalks. Look left, right and left again when crossing and keep looking as you cross. Walk, don’t run, across the street.
• Walk on sidewalks or paths. If there are no sidewalks, walk facing traffic as far to the left as possible. Children should walk on direct routes with the fewest street crossings.
• Slow down and stay alert – watch out for cars that are turning or backing up and never dart out into the street or cross in between parked cars.
• Costumes can be both creative and safe. Decorate costumes and bags with reflective tape or stickers and, if possible, choose light colors. Masks can obstruct a child’s vision, so choose non-toxic face paint and make-up whenever possible instead. Have kids carry glow sticks or flashlights in order to see better, as well as be seen by drivers.

Top safety tips Safe Kids and FedEx recommend for drivers:
• Slow down in residential neighborhoods. Remember that popular trick-or-treating hours are 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.
• Be especially alert and take extra time to look for kids at intersections, on medians and on curbs. Children are excited on Halloween and may move in unpredictable ways.
• Reduce any distractions inside your car, such as talking on the phone or eating, so you can concentrate on the road and your surroundings.

BE SAFE THIS YEAR. (All caps = I’m serious about this.)

If you’d like FedEx and SafeKids.org to send you a Safe Trick-or-Treat bag, leave a comment with your costume idea for this year. I’ll pick the winners on Friday, October 24th at 8pm EST so you can get your bags in time for Halloween!

***Update – And the winners are – comment numbers 8, 7, 16, 11, 20. Becky, AmyRyb, beccalecca, Leslie, and Holly Wright. ***

One More Drop – Square Breathing

October 21, 2014 by Kathryn

Take a minute to slow down and practice purposeful breath. It calms you and oxygenates your brain. Who doesn’t need more brain oxygen? I certainly don’t not need it.

Breathe in through your nose for four slow counts.
Hold the breath for four.
Breathe out for four.
Hold the breath for four.

Repeat these breaths until your children give up hope of getting your attention ever again.

One More Drop is a series of tiny missions to help you add more Drops of Awesome to your day.

This is Happening

October 21, 2014 by Kathryn

Dan, who loves me and works hard to stay on my good side, says I will be a Daring “Young” Mom forever and maybe he’s right. It’s all in the attitude… and the maturity. However at the age of 35, my wrinkles and I are starting to feel just a bit squirmish about giving people my blog URL.

“Um… it’s because I was young once and… mumble mumble… young at heart… trailing off.”

So I’m migrating my digital life over here to DropsofAwesome.com. The stories are the same. It’s just DaringYoungMom.com for old people. I hope you’ll join me.

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