Pampered Chef-iversary

Happy March!...?!?!  

As per usual, this post is a little belated, but I recently (2 months ago...still relatively recently, right?) celebrated my one year anniversary as an Independent Pampered Chef Consultant!

It may be a blessing in disguise that I "waited" so long to commemorate this milestone with a blog post, because since it's March, now, I can share the new spring/summer products with you!  How exciting!  Click here to check them out!  And, of course, let me know if you'd like to host a party (cooking show/catalog party/Facebook party/bridal shower) to earn FREE products!

My goal for the year was to be an "active" (submit $150 in sales) consultant each month, and thanks to many of you, I reached my goal...and beyond!  I earned some great commission, as well as some awesome new products for our kitchen.  

I had another goal, too: I didn't want to beat down anyone's door to drum up business...or become any sort of "pushy salesman" type.  I met this goal, as well!  I didn't ask anyone to host a party - all my hosts came to me of their own accord.  Word of mouth was my friend, for sure (as was my mother and her PC-loving friends! ☺)! 

My hope for the future of my Pampered Chef business is to build more clientele in the KC area.  Many of the parties I helped host this past year were from Topeka and/or Lincoln connections (and included a couple bridal showers - my favorite!).  This was to be expected, and I'm so thankful for all the support of friends and family in those previous home cities of mine.  I'm looking forward to continuing to meet new people in my current home city and hoping to bring some great products to their kitchens, too!  ☺

In an effort to spread the word about our businesses to our KC area friends, my BFF (who sells Norwex - I could write a whole post about these awesome products.  Please check them out and let me know if you want/need her contact info.!) and I hosted an open house last fall!  We had a good turn-out, and had so much fun fellowshipping and sharing our love of all these products with all who came!  Here are a few pictures from our day:

I still have a few of these left, if you see something you'd like!

Yes, the fruit is cut in shapes.
Unfortunately, the product I used to do so has been discontinued, but you're welcome to borrow mine! ☺

Used the brownie pan and the mini muffin pan for these yummies!

A "before" shot of the Sausage & Pepper Biscuit Frittata.

Apple Nut Ring before...
...Apple Nut Ring after!

Thanks to all who were able to join us!  We had so much fun, and just may have to do it again someday!

Thank you, again, to those of you who have helped support/encourage/further this business adventure of mine!  Couldn't have done it without you!

Happy cooking, all! ☺

Pampered Chef-ly,
Kensy

Favorites of the day:

our home

sunshine

Mini Robin Eggs

Starburst jelly beans

I flew the coop!

Hello, hello, hello, dear friends and readers!

Welcome to the freshly updated "Scoop from the Coop!"

As many of you know, my life underwent a few not-so-minor changes in the recent past, so I thought this blog should reflect accordingly...on a more minor level, perhaps.

Though I'm no longer living at the coop, I'd like to retain the blog title, because...well, I don't think that really requires explanation.  ☺

So, take a deep breath with me, and get excited for more new things to come!

Subjects of upcoming posts to look forward to:
Wedding
Honeymoon
Unpacking/settling in
Charlie & Pepper
Music/Kiddos/Jobs

In the meantime, I really just wanted to drop you all a line and thank you for your patience as I've begun to settle into married life.  Many of you have asked about my blog, new life, and generally how things are going.  I so appreciate your interest, concern, and generosity, and will do my best to keep you posted on the happenings, big and small, in OUR life.

Also, I wanted to share this:
Since fall was so busy with wedding/moving/work/etc., I kind-of missed the all-thing-pumpkin boat.  Terribly sad news, right?  Fear not, though!  Thanks to a recent trip to Oklahoma and my mother-in-law's genius (and our kitchen being unpacked, organized, and in working order (which no small feat)), I have pumpkin aplenty and am making up for lost time this week.  I'm (finally) trying recipes I pinned on Pinterest boards long ago, and have made the following this week:
Whipped Cinnamon Pumpkin Honey Butter
Pumpkin Poppers
Overnight Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls (These are in the fridge getting ready to be baked tomorrow!)

This one's on deck:
Pumpkin Bread with Salted Caramel Drizzled Pumpkin Buttercream

Yum.

That's all, for now.  As usual, thanks for reading, and I'll look forward to filling you in more soon!

Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, and warm wishes to you and yours!

Wife-ly,
Kensy

Favorites of the day:

my HUSBAND!!!

having a well-stocked kitchen

this gal and guy:

Spring Break 2014

Happy spring (almost)!!

You all know how I feel about skirts and flip-flops...so, you can imagine how I feel about switching out my wardrobe in the near future.  ☺

I feel so spoiled to even be writing a post with this title, much less be able to say I had a break from work for almost an entire week.  Praise the Lord for working around the school schedule and setting my own hours (and being able to answer emails remotely).

Anyway, I thought I'd share a few highlights from my week with you all!

The break kicked off with my favorite guy and I visiting my aunt, uncle, and cousins.  We all prepared and enjoyed a delicious supper together, followed by a couple rousing games of Sequence.

Salad with homemade ginger dressing, spring rolls, and Pad Thai! Not pictured: Mango Pudding
So delicious!

These were on the dresser in the room I stayed.
Gotta love fresh flowers...and super thoughtful family members. ☺

This little guy greeted me on Monday morning. ♥

That same favorite guy and I made supper for my parents Monday afternoon/evening.  The menu included "Fried" Pickles, Cheese and Bacon Potato Rounds, Pan-Seared Steak, fruit salad, and Monster Cookie Dough Cupcakes.  What a perfect way to spend time together. ☺

Tuesday was spent in with my BFF in her first grade classroom.  I got to help the kiddos with a special math project that day: Two Dimensional Shape Creatures!

Her awesome example.

I actually got to be a part of this project with her class last year, too, and made a sign to hang in the hallway with their finished creatures.  Conveniently, I was back this year in time to amend the sign to include her new last name.  ☺

Before...

...after!

Not pictured:
shopping/browsing trip
Chick-Fil-A
painted toenails

Wednesday morning was spent on the road to Wichita to see my favorite brother.  We met for lunch at Spear's Restaurant and Pie Shop and enjoyed some good-down-home-cookin'...and pie, of course.  ☺

This is what greeted me at my quarters for the day/evening.
Q lives with some thoughtful and talented guys. ☺

An evening of pizza-making and cake-decorating was preceded by a (very welcome) quiet afternoon on the couch with ample time to catch up on emails (work and otherwise), Facebook, and Pinterest.

Homemade supreme pizza...yum!!

Q was asked to make a friend's wedding cake in a few months.  This was his practice cake.
It tasted as great as it looks!

After meeting Q at work and getting a tour of his office and the plant (so cool!), I stopped in to see some family in Lindsborg before completing my loop back to Lincoln.

I'm so very thankful to have had the time to see and spend quality time with so many important people in my life...and the week isn't over!  Looking forward to a productive day at work before heading to a good friend's house-warming/St. Patrick's Day party!

In other news, my students filled out teachers evaluations a few weeks ago.  There were many kind words, lots of positive feedback, and some funny comments.  Thought I'd share one of them:

You are a great teacher and you're teaching me so well that my mom can't play whatever I can now.

Enjoy the weekend, dear readers!

-Kensy

P.S. Happy Pi Day!

Favorites of the day:

warm sunshine

having time to unpack and settle back in

audio books

wake-up calls ☺

Thank you, snow!

So...here I am...on snow day #1 1/2 (we didn't have lessons yesterday, but I nannied in the morning/early afternoon before things got bad)...enjoying the time to actually write a blog post for you all!

But really, there's not a whole lot to report...

Work is good.

The coop is good.

Church is good.

Life is good.

And I made these new vegetable recipes last night...

Coconut Oil Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Broccoli tossed in hummus, and Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower

...and I helped the kids (yes, kids, plural - JP was home from kindergarten yesterday - wohoo!!  We hadn't seen each other in awhile...and cherished the few hours we got to spend together...with MA, too, of course) I nanny for finish putting together the 3D puzzle I gave their family for Christmas.

Who knows what the rest of the snow day will bring!  So far, it's brought cinnamon rolls and the Today Show.  So thankful to be able to work my "day job" from home. ☺

In case I have some time to write a more substantial post in the near future, I'd like to open the floor for suggestions for blog post subjects/topics.  Ready...set...GO!

Warmly (kind-of...),
Kensy

Favorites of the day:

a whole day to be productive!!!

yoga

Skype

P.S. If you're on Facebook, check out the video I was tagged in recently...

It's the little things in life.

So, before I tell you anything else, I have to tell you about something I saw today:
We were driving by a little house in a neighborhood and noticed a bunny (as in a big, furry black-and-white-spotted pet rabbit) tethered in the yard on a pink leash...with a water jug next to it, complete with one of those little spout things that rodents (and bunnies) use to drink from.  What?!?!  I'm only sorry I didn't stop to take a picture.

Anyway, this post is all about finding joy in the little things in life.  Here are a few things in which I've found joy in the past few days:

My weekend (and birthday week) started off with a FREE meal at Noodles and Co., thanks to my b-day coupon.  This was followed by a spontaneous birthday present trip to Paint Yourself Silly and Ivanna Cone, courtesy of my roomie!  We had a lovely time - I'll have photo evidence of the finished products, soon.

Saturday started with a trip to the farmer's market to get some cute little gourds complete our fall decorations:

May or may not have also purchased a cinnamon roll from Great Harvest Bread Co. (if you haven't tried one of these, you NEED to!).

A trip to Walgreen's resulted in the purchase of two clearance items - a stack of 1" square post-its (they're sooo cute!) and this lunch bag:

I'd been considering getting a new/bigger lunch box for awhile, and this was perfect...and only $5!

A good chunk of Saturday afternoon was spent outside enjoying the lovely weather...on blankets with music and magazines.  ☺

I also spent some time this weekend putting recipes I've printed off, received from others and/or written down on post-its or scrap paper in page protectors and in a notebook.  I probably enjoyed this task (way) more than the average girl - haha.  Now, for something for all the recipe/note cards...

Those of you on Facebook already know I was rudely awakened the other morning by footsteps and strange squawk/chirping noises on the roof.  I originally thought it was just one of the teenage turkeys we have running around here, but my aunt/neighbor provided this photo evidence that proved otherwise:

My room is under the roof toward the left of this photo.
You're probably wondering how/why I found joy in this - I just think it was (and is) so hilarious!  Wish you could've heard the noises they were making.

My Sunday also got of to a wonderful start - I got to play trumpet duets at church with one of my former NWU classmates (and my good friend)!  We played a couple selections from opposite sides of the balcony and a couple from the front of the church.  Those of you who know me well know how much I love to play in church...and how much I love duets!  I'm continually thankful for opportunities to share God's gift of music - especially with people I really like!

I hope you all are able to find joy in the little (and big) things in your lives!

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." -Romans 15:13


Joyfully,
Kensy

Favorites of the day:

all the birthday coupons I've received, so far (12 and counting...one being for a free huge piece of chocolate layer cake from Granite City...got it to go after brunch today, and it looks so amazing!)

Charlie inviting himself to curl up in my lap for a bit just now

the color red