a-maker-of-luck - Tumblr blog

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Oh my lucky stars!

Milky Way Reflections (by Matt Payne Photography)

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[Lucky Charms Ref] Clover by lithxe

Hello, Luck Makers! I loved Galileo by this artist, so much so I had to show you Clover. Luck can be a fun inspiration, no? 

"Hearts, stars, and horseshoes. Clovers and blue moons. Pots of gold and rainbows and me red balloons!"

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[a-maker-of-luck]

Remember, Luck Makers, one of the easiest and best ways to ensure that you not only make your own luck but remember how lucky you already are, is to count your blessings. 

Take five minutes at the end of every day to count your blessings, count your lucky stars, and count all the things - big or small - that are going your way. 

Nothing is too small to be a blessing. 

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And any one of us could be someone else's luck. 

Valentina | via Tumblr a We Heart It-on - http://weheartit.com/entry/93370734

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[a-maker-of-luck]

My Lucky Dragon's Lair

About a year ago, I was browsing the craft superstore, Hobby Lobby and found myself gawking at an aisle full of kits - science kits, nature kits, model kits, you name it! When I was a kid, I loved getting these kits. The kits I remember the most were an ant farm and a bug catching kit, complete with butterfly net, magnifying glass, and terrarium. 

They were so much fun! Hours of exploring the world around me and learning through hands-on experience about life and biology, without even knowing I was learning at all. That there is priceless.

Fast forward back to last year, I was giddy with excitement at the kits available to kids these days and I had to buy one. Getting myself to buy just one was the hardest part. I finally landed on a Dragon's Lair terrarium kit. I had previously had success with mini-terrariums from the same company and grew brain plants and a butterfly bush. It's so fun watching the little plants germinate in their own micro-ecosystem. 

Finally, almost a whole year later, I set up my dragon's lair and eagerly await the germination of my dragon plants! 

The dragon's lair kit came with lava rocks and a little dragon to decorate the terrarium, which in a few months will be well on its way to becoming a jungle of dragon-themed foliage. I'm super nerdy, considering the absurd amount of excitement I am experiencing over this silly kit. 

I decided to name my dragon Felix, which is Latin for "happy" or "lucky". I think it's the perfect name for my luck dragon. :)

The kit said to add 2 cups of room temperature water to the terrarium base and the compressed peat germination mix disc would dissolve "quickly"... It didn't seem very quick to me... In fact, in my impatience, I decided to rub the disc in my hand and break it apart to help the process along. I think overall it took fifteen minutes for it to dissolve and mix completely. 

But once the germination mix was fully dissolved and I had my moist soil mixture, it was smooth sailing to completing the set up of my dragon's lair! 

The dragon tree (dracaena draco) seeds were super cool; they were about the size of a pea and had a neat white, textured outer coat.

The Black Dragon Coleus seeds were a little less interesting, but I'm excited to see the grown plant!

It's the little things that keep me entertained. 

I enjoy finding little things to do like this that maintain that sense of wonder that we all had so strongly when we were kids. 

In my opinion, it's very important that we try to hold on to that sense of wonder and amazement. The world truly is full of surprises and wonders; there's no reason for our feelings of awe and respect to fade. No matter how much we see and experience, there is always something new out there. 

'Til next time, Luck Makers, 

Stay lucky and stay excellent.

[a-maker-of-luck]

“It is the mark of an inexperienced man not to believe in luck.”

Joseph Conrad

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[Lucky Charms Ref] Star by lithxe

This artist has a character for each of the Lucky Charms marshmallows. They're really neat. Check out the artwork, my fellow luck makers!

"Hearts, stars, and horseshoes. Clovers and blue moons. Pots of gold and rainbows and me red balloons!"

[a-maker-of-luck]

Falkor the Luck Dragon from the Neverending Story :) 

By Kerneinheit on Deviantart (click through for more)

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Paying It Forward (with Chili)

As a luck maker, I try to make luck for others. Doing good for my neighbor is a way to pay it forward and make the world a better place. I know that it can be hard for some to imagine that small acts can have an impact, but just ask anyone who has been the receiver of one of those small, good acts. Any one of them, including me, will tell you that the small things can be the biggest things, that making a difference can be simple and often, it's these simple things that are overlooked and truly needed. 

With that in mind, I do my best to remember among the many things that I try to get done during my days that I should jump at the opportunity to help someone or to volunteer or to become part of something that can do good for others. 

At the moment, I am leading a five member team in a fundraising event for a local branch of Junior Achievement. We are participating in the 18th annual bowling classic fundraising event in which teams of five people work together to raise money for Junior Achievement (JA) and then celebrate reaching fundraising goals by spending a couple hours bowling and enjoying the company of other community members. 

To help raise our goal of a team total of $500 we decided to do a chili feed in the building that we work in. We made four different kinds of homemade chili and sold them with fixings like chopped onions, cheese, sour cream, and chips for $5 per bowl. I contributed two chilis: a red turkey chili and a chili verde with pulled pork and white beans. I wanted to offer a couple options that were not red beef chili, for those people looking for something different or who are looking to avoid red meat. All four homemade chilis were a huge hit. The feed raised $326 (many people generously donated more than $5)! Amazing. 

For the chili verde, I followed this recipe on allrecipes.com, except that I multiplied the ingredients by 1.5 to make a bit more than the original recipe and added two cans of white beans (undrained), after I shredded the pork and added it back. After adding the beans, I let the chili cook for about another hour. 

The red turkey chili recipe is one of my favorites. In fact, it is the recipe that I use almost every time that I make chili for dinner at home. It's a great, lighter version of the classic red beef chili and when you replace the McCormick's original chili packet with a simple homemade mix of chili spices (like I did for this feed), the recipe is gluten free. 

Without further ado, here is my red turkey chili recipe (I doubled it for the feed - it still cooked down enough in four hours, even when doubled). Sorry that I don't have a photo of it, I usually take pictures of my food as served (Yeah, I'm one of those people), but I didn't have time for it this time, so here's a picture of it just mixed and placed in the slow cooker. Maybe next time, I'll get a picture of it all plated. :)

INGREDIENTS

1 lb 99% fat free ground turkey

1 cup chopped onion

1 packet McCormick’s Original Chili Spice

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon ground cumin

¼ teaspoon salt

A pinch of cayenne (or more, to taste)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, un-drained

2 (10-ounce) cans Mexican-style stewed tomatoes with green chilies (like Rotel®), un-drained 

1 (6-ounce) can of tomato paste

~1.5 Tablespoons minced jalapeño

DIRECTIONS

Cook the turkey in a large skillet over medium-high heat until brown, stirring to crumble.

Add chopped onion and the next ingredients through garlic and cook for 5-7 minutes or until onion is tender.

Place meat mixture in slow cooker.

Stir in beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, and jalapeño.

Cover with lid and cook on low for 4 hours.

Serve with sour cream, tortilla chips, cheese, and chopped onions.

[a-maker-of-luck]

When it comes to luck, you make your own.

Bruce Springsteen

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Make your own luck by Not-of-this-age

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Diligence is the mother of good luck.

Benjamin Franklin

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[a-maker-of-luck]

I believe in luck and fate and I believe in karma, that the energy you put out in the world comes back to meet you.

Chris Pine 

(a [very handsome] fellow Luck Maker)

[a-maker-of-luck]

John D. Boswell graces us with some brilliant remixes of PBS Studios favorites Bob Ross, Mister Rogers, Julia Child, and Reading Rainbow. 

After watching these remixes on YouTube, I had to buy the album (available here on Amazon for less than $5). You can be one of the "viewers like you" that make PBS possible. ;) It's a great service, in my opinion. What would I have done without Mister Rogers, Sesame Street, Antiques Roadshow, and Nova??

Anyway, listen to this song. 

"Did you ever grow anything in the garden of your mind? You can grow ideas in the garden of your mind... There are so many things to learn about in this world and so many people who can help us learn."

Let it fill your hearts, Luck Makers. This is one of my luck making jams. Making my own luck is an idea that I'm growing in the garden of my mind.

(Special thanks to one of my best friends for introducing me to these remixes.)