Let me start by saying, if you are looking for the "World's Best" Chilaquiles recipe, this is not it. However, while I was making these, I had such a fun walk down chilaquiles memory lane I decided to write about them. Do any of you have those "food quests"? Ya know those food memories that haunt you and you spend the rest of your life searching for that same food with the incredible flavor profile, spices, environment, freshness, etc. I have more than my share of food quests and chilaquiles just happen to be one of those.

Actually now that I think about it, I pretty much have a food quest that came out of every country I have traveled to. I am still searching for Guinness Lamb Stew like I had in Ireland, Fava Bean Soup like I had in Sicily, fresh lobster like I had in Bora Bora, fresh Guacamole and Coronas like I had in Cozumel and the list goes on.



The first time I had chilaquiles I was approximately 25 years old. My best friend and I went to Mexico, Puerto Vallarta to be exact, for our last hoorah before she got married. We decided to spend a week laying in the sun, drinking margaritas, flirting with boys, doing random tourist things and well just being girls. It was the ultimate girls trip from the 5 Brazilian boys to the swim up pool bar to the horse back riding to our first discoteca to blistering sunburns, ok maybe not that part. Lets go back to the positive, as we even did all of the kitchy "must do's" while in PV from the whistle blowing shaken head shots to the horseback ride on the beach, hell we even went on a sunset cruise where everyone thought we were lesbians because we got on the "couples" boat accidentally. No there was not a donkey dressed as a zebra, you are now thinking of Tijuana, and that was a different trip.

Anyway, back to chilaquiles, every morning after a night of fiestas, we would stumble down to the outdoor restaurant in our bathing suits, order coffee and chilaquiles. I don't know if it was the best hangover cure food, if it was the pleasure of eating outside overlooking the Pacific ocean or just the best damn chilaquiles I have ever tasted. The sauce was super fresh, a little zesty but not overly spicy, it had an amazing smokey and toasted flavor. I think it was red sauce or maybe I just made that part up.  The chips were crunchy in parts and soggy in others. I remember the melted cheese, the cilantro, the onions and just the happiness of morning comfort food. It was pure heaven! I am actually pretty sure I could hear angels singing as I wrote about them just now.

I have spent the last 15 years looking for those same chilaquiles, throughout different cities in Mexico, countless American Mexican restaurants and a few goes at it in my own kitchen. However, none of the chilaquiles I have encountered since have held a candle to some random hotel in PV and their chilaquiles!!

Back to this particular recipe, it is good, but not the chilaquiles that dreams are made of. I spent a ton of time frying chips and let me just say I was proud of my chip frying as I can be a bit of a frying disaster.


However, by the time they came out of the oven, they were so saturated in sauce, they were soggy. The sauce is tangy, however there isn't any spice and it is just well a little boring. It has potential if you play with it, maybe more salt, some cayenne pepper, more cilantro, etc.  I even took the extra time to roast my own chicken instead of using a Rotisserie chicken and it was good, but nothing to write home about. I did really like the cheese, however seriously I haven't met any cheese that I haven't liked. This would be the perfect recipe if you were making Brunch for a crowd or just needed some easy breakfast comfort food, but I will not be losing sleep over this recipe or searching for its counterpart for the next 15 years.



On a side note, I did try a new method to roast boneless skinless chicken breasts. Put the chicken breasts in a pan that is buttered or oiled. Oil the chicken breasts with a little olive oil or cooking spray, whatever makes you happy. Cover the chicken breasts with Parchment paper that is sprayed with cooking spray and cook for 20-40 minutes, depending on the size of the breasts. The chicken came out moist and juicy and it was super easy. In the past when I have tried to roast boneless skinless chicken breasts they had a tendency to be kind of dry so this did workout well.








Here is the actual recipe:

Ingredients
8 fresh tomatillos, husks removed
1 white onion, coarsely chopped
1 poblano pepper, peeled and seeded
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded
3/4 cup chopped cilantro
4 cloves garlic
2 leaves fresh mint (I didn't use the mint)
salt to taste
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1/4 cup vegetable oil
12 (6 inch) white corn tortillas, cut into 3 strips
3/4 cup shredded pepperjack cheese
 3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).




Blend tomatillos, onion, poblano pepper, jalapeno pepper, cilantro, garlic, mint, and salt in a blender until smooth. Transfer mixture to a saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until thickened, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Add chicken to tomatillo sauce and continue to simmer until chicken is heated through, about 5 minutes more.



Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry tortilla strips in batches until crisp and lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

Layer about half the fried tortillas in a 2-quart baking dish; spread half the tomatillo sauce over tortillas. Mix pepperjack cheese and Monterey Jack cheese in a bowl; sprinkle half over tomatillo sauce. Repeat layers.



Bake in preheated oven until cheese is golden and bubbly, 30 to 35 minutes. Allow to cool 5 minutes before serving.

Let me start by saying this is probably one of my all time favorite brunch recipes. As many of you know I am a huge fan of brunch and so to add to my morning food repertoire is a pretty exciting moment for me. I also have to mention that this recipe is so incredibly easy, but looks classy, so you can use it to impress guests, suck up to spouses/boyfriends/first dates, catch up with girlfriends or just treat yourself. It is truly a breakfast blessing in disguise. Now before I launch into the nuances of this recipe, let me tell you a little bit about life in a neck brace.



As of today I am celebrating the completion of week 4 in a neck brace and I  am looking at another 6. There have been so many things that I have realized recently that I took for granted and here are my top 10:

1. Walking! I can't tell you how many times I have tripped over poor Miss Kitty because I can't see my feet and hence I can't see the giant orange fluff ball that loves to follow me around. Ack!!
2. Turning your head! I was in the car yesterday with my best friend and she kept a running commentary about things we passed and I finally had to tell her I couldn't see any of it.
3. Blow drying my hair. Right before my accident I got these amazing hair extensions...that I can now do nothing with because blow drying/styling your hair in a neck brace is just not happening. I am the queen of pony tails and buns at the moment. 
4. Eating! This neck brace is like a death trap for food. I have pretty much found an assortment of random food morsels in this brace-oatmeal, rice, sushi, egg, a steak. You name it, if it gets near my mouth, it gets in my brace. And it is hysterical to watch peoples faces when they see you drop stuff in there because I can't see it, and you can see their face contort as they debate whether or not to tell you what just occurred.
5. Dancing! Have you ever tried dancing without moving your head? I definitely give Elaine, from Seinfeld, a run for her money. Now imagine Elaine dancing without moving her head while listening to Reggae music, it just doesn't get anymore awkward, but it hasn't stopped me from car dancing, bathroom dancing and gym dancing. Dead sexy!
6. Opening jars-I just never realized how many neck muscles you use while opening jars. I have resorted to beating the hell out of jar lids and hoping that seal pops so I can gently use my right hand to open salsa, olives, etc. 
7. Picking up stuff from the floor. I can't tell you how many times I have dropped stuff on the floor and just walked away because I decided I didn't have the dexterity, flexibility or energy to pick it up. This has included my cell phone, pieces of paper, wine corks, bok choy, etc. I have watched the items fall and it almost feels like it occurs in slow motion and I feel dismay as it occurs because I am pretty sure I will never see this item again. 
8. Cartwheels-I jut straight up can't do cartwheels right now. Please do not ask me if I could do cartwheels before the neck brace because that is irrelevant. 
9. Anything to do with the lower half of my body-putting on pants, putting on shoes, shaving legs, painting toenails, etc. I can't look down and it is as if the entire lower half of my body has disappeared. 
10. Affection. Have you ever tried kissing in a neck brace? The minute someone gets close to you the Velcro on your neck brace tends to attach to their shirt, their beard or their hand and as they start to kiss you, you hear the romantic noise of Velcro tearing away from the side of your neck brace. Does not exactly scream "I am sexy. Take me now." And it is almost impossible not to smile or laugh with that noise in the background. 

So I decided to jump on the food in a jar bandwagon. For months now I have seen the countless cute mason jar recipes on Pinterest, food blogs and in cook books. I never had mason jars or time to experiment with any of these so I just read about the fad and moved on....until this week.


Since I have been home Amazon Prime has become my best friend, so I ordered some mason jars on-line and they were at my front door in about 10 minutes (probably more like 2 days but it felt really fast). The first thing I tried to make was this overnight no cook oatmeal and it was really good. Here is the link if you are interested: No Cook Overnight Oatmeal

This is usually when my plans start to go array, just about the time I get cocky. So I am feeling all confident in my jar cooking ability after the oatmeal and I decide to try Apple Bread in these cute jars...in the slow cooker....sounds easy enough, right?



Now granted my first thought was "hmmm wonder if the bread will stick to the jars," but once I read the recipe and saw that I greased and floured the jars, I moved on from that concern.

I combined my dry ingredients-flour, apple pie spice, salt and baking powder. No problems there.



Next I mixed my wet ingredients-brown sugar, oil, eggs and applesauce. Yup, this is easy.



Combined the wet and dry ingredients, being careful not to over mix like the recipe said. And I stirred in my walnuts.





Yup, this is my kind of recipe. I put the batter into my cute jars and the recipe said to cover with greased foil instead of the lids they came with. Ok, I can do that.



I had a bit of a conundrum (good word huh) trying to figure out if I should stand the jars up or lay them down in the slow cooker, but once I read the recipe again and it said to put the lid on the slow cooker I knew I had to lay them down. I put warm water on the bottom of the crock pot, just like the recipe said.

I turned the crockpot to high and waited for 2 hours....feeling pretty accomplished!

After 2 hours I went to check on the bread, wondering if it was really going to be cooked all the way through...and it appeared to be. I was happy!!

I took my cute jars out of the slow cooker and put them on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes had elapsed I removed the foil and I turned the jars upside down. And I heard the bread rattle in the jars, indicating it was loose from the side....and it stopped...the mouth of the jars were just too small for the bread to pass through.

I had cute jars, cute bread and I had that damn bread stuck in those damn cute jars. I tried the bread, using a fork, and it tasted pretty good, but seriously who wants to eat their bread with a fork? I continued to try and shake the bread for a bit, walked away and returned to shake some more, but lets be honest that bread was stuck. If I decide to tackle this again I guess I will need to find big mouth jars, do they even make those? Until that point I am going to stick with my jar oatmeal or maybe try a jar salad, but this jar bread thing, for me anyway was an epic fail.

Here is the recipe in case you want to tackle it:Slow Cooker Apple Bread

Happy Hump Day and Cheers!!

So after I made enchiladas last week I was feeling kind of cocky about my neck brace cooking prowess and I decided to make Carrot Cake for a dinner party I was attending. Let me start by saying that I truly over estimated my skill set as it relates to culinary skill with a broken neck and a few numb fingers....but I puled it off...with only a few mishaps.



On a side note, in order to get the ingredients for this cooking adventure I decided to try one of those on-line grocery store delivery services. Don't get me wrong I love grocery stores, but this was pretty friggin magical. I go on-line order food, even ordered myself flowers and voila this food wizard shows up at my doors with bags full of groceries. Loved it!! However, the carrot cake recipe I found did call for fromage blanc which I was unable to find with this delivery service and so I just substituted additional cream cheese for the frosting.



So to begin with I mixed the dry ingredients-flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.



I didn't even think about the physical nature of grating carrots and so when I saw the recipe called for 2 cups of grated carrots I didn't think twice. However, as a result of some nerve damage my fingers are numb and so grating carrots turned out to be a little challenging, slightly scary and potentially hazardous (don't worry I did not grate my hand, but I did come close a few times). I am pretty sure I broke into a sweat just by grating carrots and I think I have a carrot grating muscle, truth be told...since it is probably the most exercise I have had in 3 weeks. Ack!! Add the grated carrots to the dry ingredients.

Next combine the sugars and butter in a mixer and combine. Add the eggs to the mixture. Stir in the vanilla.




Alternate the buttermilk and flour into the butter and sugar mixture, combining completely in between additions.



Spread the batter into a greased 9x13 and bake at 350 degrees for 28 minutes. And yes the recipe actually says 28 minutes and the recipe is actually correct, it was actually done after 28 minutes. Random number, ay. Let the cake cool completely on a rack.



While the cake is cooling make the frosting. In a mixer combine the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, salt and powdered sugar and combine. This is the point where I learned another valuable lesson....seeing as I can't look down because of the neck brace...when you fling frosting all over your shirt it is nearly impossible to clean it off yourself. I got lucky and a friend had just happened to stop by as I started to redecorate myself and the kitchen in icing and they were kind enough to assist me with operation cream cheese frosting clean-up.

Once the cake has completely cooled, ice the cake. This is optional, but if you like pecans, I sprinkled chopped pecans over the top and it added a nice flavor and crunch.

So I do have to admit that this was a Cooking Light recipe, however I am pretty much convinced that the only reason this recipe is considered Cooking Light is because it has unrealistic serving sizes. Sure a 9x13 pan is good sized, but the recipe says it makes 20 servings and well, I don't know what kind of cake slices you like to eat, but no matter how I cut a cake there is not 20 servings in a 9x13 pan. Just saying...therefore the calorie count is going to be higher in my serving sizes.

This cake was nice and moist, had good flavor thanks to the cinnamon and I loved the cream cheese frosting, however I haven't met a frosting I didn't care for.






Here is the actual recipe:
Ingredients

CAKE:
10.1 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 1/4 cups)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated carrot
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter, softened
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
Cooking spray
FROSTING:
6 ounces cream cheese, softened
1 ounce fromage blanc
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted
Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. To prepare cake, weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, ground cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add 2 cups grated carrot, tossing to combine.
3. Place granulated sugar, brown sugar, and 6 tablespoons butter in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until combined. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Spread batter into a 13 x 9-inch metal baking pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 28 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake completely on a wire rack.
4. To prepare frosting, place softened cream cheese and next 4 ingredients (through 1/8 teaspoon salt) in a medium bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at medium speed until combined (don't overbeat). Spread frosting evenly over top of cake. Sprinkle evenly with toasted pecans.

I am not sure what cooking endeavor I am going to try and take on this week, but so far I made overnight oatmeal which was super easy....and I may try and make apple bread in the crockpot...but we shall see. Celebrate life my friends and cheers!!

Let me start by saying thank you for the outpouring of love and support from all of you after reading my blog yesterday. I was so touched by all of your well wishes, comments and thoughts. Muah!! (is that how you spell the kissing noise?) If it is not, well, you get the idea.

Several of you mentioned the tears that my blog evoked yesterday, so I thought I would take a moment and share some of my Flint, Michigan Emergency Room funnies. Let me start by saying I have very little hospital experience. I think I can count on one finger (yes, finger not hand) the amount of times I have been to an ER and this was definitely my first ambulance ride. So this was all new to me and well it is me so I had to get myself into trouble.

So here are my top ten emergency room experiences:

1. When you are in Michigan and you are in the back of an ambulance and they ask you if there is anyone you want to call, who do you think of? Your ex-boyfriend of course, right? Yeah I can't explain it either, but that is who I called and so he came to the hospital to be with me. He obviously gets ex-boyfriend of the year!! However, wait it gets funnier...because the ER nurse after spending several hours with us proceeds to tell us that we are the "cutest couple ever." So I looked at her all serious and blurt out,"um he is my ex boyfriend." I left her speechless.

2. Before being taken to an examination room I spent 3 hours in a wheelchair and a neck brace in the lobby of the ER. Needless to say the people watching was especially dicey considering I was in the only trauma unit in Flint (and no I did not drink the water). My favorite was the woman who was laying on a bench in her pi's cuddling her urine cup (no this is not a typo it was her cup with her urine sample in it). When the nurse called her name she got up, but left the cup behind, so the nurse yelled across the room,"don't forget your pee cup." Good times!! I would have laughed so hard I cried if it didn't hurt to laugh.

3. While in the same waiting room, the nurse told me not to take my purse off my lap for fear it would be stolen. I guess for some reason a YSL purse in the ER of Flint stands out and screams "steal me." So I was looking through my purse and prior to the accident my co-worker had given me hair care samples. I proceeded to pull one of them out and yell "anyone want some crack?" Several heads turned in my direction. The hair product is called "crack." I didn't put two and two together at the time, but people thought I was offering up drugs haha. She also had given me conditioner in a plastic baggy that looked like a semen sample so of course I pulled it out of my purse and held it up. My boss and my ex both wanted to crawl into a hole and die. I hadn't even had pain meds yet so I can't blame these shenanigans on being high.



4. After 3 hours in the above lobby the pain started to kick in, but since I hadn't been seen yet I couldn't take any medication. Just about this time a guy walked into the lobby smelling like he had just smoked a bowl. I promptly looked at my ex and told him I wanted to go sit by that guy. I thought the second hand smoke would help. He did not move my wheelchair for me and so I had to stay put. Grrrr....

5. After being taken to the examination room they made me put on one of those lovely hospital gowns. I was pretty excited when I realized I was wearing my knee high LA Dodgers polka dot socks and that I had a polka dot bra to match. My enthusiasm for my team spirit quickly dwindled when I realized I was in Detroit Tiger territory and no one else shared my team. Grrrr....but Mom you should be proud my underwear was clean and matched each other and my socks. Win!!

6. I obviously had to get a CT scan and I had been pretty unfazed by everything throughout the experience up until the point they wanted to cut my belly button ring off me. I had myself a mini temper tantrum over that accessory. So they called in this large muscular male nurse to pull my belly button ring apart. He saved it and I was being ridiculous!! Before they put me in the CT machine they asked me if I was pregnant and I promptly responded with,"gosh I would rather have a broken neck." Be careful what you wish for, a pregnancy would have been easier!!

7. So in total we spent about 13 hours in the emergency room. Needless to say we were exhausted by the experience, the long wait and the stress of the evening. I was laying on the hospital bed and my ex was sitting in a chair next to me. I was covered by a sheet and he laid his head on my leg and promptly fell asleep. The nurse came in about an hour later to check my vitals and woke us up. He sat up and there was a giant wet spot on my leg where he had drooled onto my sheet. Haha!! Yup I just told this story, sorry MS!! I can think of so many inappropriate wet spot comments to make right here, but I am just going to walk away.

8. When they finally came in to tell me that my neck was broken I swear they sent in Eeyore, ya know the donkey from Winnie the Pooh with no personality and the monotone voice. This nurse or physicians assistant walks into my room and starts to talk. I am pretty sure she is about to tell me they are out of coffee because that is how unexcited she was, however she proceeds to tell me that my neck is fractured. Her tone of voice was so subtle and even keeled that we both looked at each other and were like,"So what does this mean?" At which point she promptly says,"yes your neck is broken." And leaves. Ok well thanks for being a bundle of joy!!

9. My co-worker was in the accident with me, but she got released before me. However, she had lacerations to her knees and so they decided to cut her pants for her. She walked into my room to say goodbye and I had to burst out laughing. She was wearing pants that resembled yoga pants, however one leg was cut to the length of Bermuda shorts and the other leg was cut away in the front and was long in the back, and was flapping. Imagine pants that look like a mullet. Really? Mr. Medic you couldn't have cut both legs to be shorts?

10. After 13 hours in the ER, a diagnoses of a broken neck and a lovely neck brace I was discharged from the hospital. I put my clothes back on, including my Ralph Lauren black leather knee high heeled boots because when you walk out of a hospital in Flint you have to do it in style, fractured neck or no fractured neck. Peace out!! I saw the Officer who wrote the accident report on my way out and he was very impressed with my sense of style and told me he could tell I was from California. Hmmm wonder what gave it away?

So tonight I decided to try and cook with a broken neck. Let me just say the things that I have always taken for granted in the kitchen like seeing your food were the things that I struggled with. I have always complained that counters were too tall because I am short, however tonight I would have liked counters that came up to my chin so I could actually see what I was cooking. I have also never had a fear of knives, however when you can't see where you are cutting those things are straight up terrifying. I kind of figured I didn't want to lop off a finger to go with the broken neck. I also found that I couldn't open any food packages-jars are straight up impossible, opening a package of cheese felt like a wrestling match and getting into a bag of spinach, well lets just say the spinach almost won.


I decided to start off easy and make spinach cheese enchiladas. The recipe has 5 ingredients so I thought it would be pretty safe.


First of all, combine the sour cream and green salsa in a bowl. The recipe called for a cup of sour cream, but it didn't like the grey color that it made the salsa so I cut it in half and used 1/2 cup. Cover the bottom of a 9x13 dish with the salsa/cheese mixture.


Next chop the spinach (yes this was the scary part).


Take a corn tortilla and place approximately a tablespoon of the salsa mixture down the middle. Fill with spinach and shredded jack cheese. Roll up the tortilla and place in pan. Continue until all 10 tortillas are filled.

Top the enchiladas with the remaining salsa and cheese. Cook for 20-25 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Here is the actual recipe:
Ingredients

 1 cup light sour cream
1 (7 ounce) can green salsa (I actually used 16 oz because I like my enchiladas saucy)
1 bunch fresh spinach, rinsed and thinly sliced
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 (10 ounce) package corn tortillas

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

In a small bowl, stir together half of the sour cream and the green salsa. Spread enough to coat the bottom into a 9x13 inch baking dish.

On each tortilla, spread a small amount of the salsa and sour cream in the center. Lay a small handful of spinach over that, and sprinkle with Monterey Jack cheese. Roll up, secure with a toothpick and place into the baking dish. When all of the tortillas are in the pan, pour the remaining salsa over the top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until the enchiladas are browned and heated through.



Overall, I was happy with my result. Sure I think they would have been better with homemade enchilada sauce, but that was just a little too gutsy for me to try tonight on my first night back into the kitchen. I love green salsa because of the tangy and zesty flavor, cheese just straight up makes me happy in any form and the fact that I cooked brought me a great deal of joy. Cheers!!

I have always been one of those people who has celebrated and embraced life with all I have. However, 2 1/2 weeks ago my celebration went to a completely different level.
I was in a car accident, extricated out of the vehicle and taken to a trauma unit to be treated for a broken neck. I have multiple cervical fractures and for that I am thankful. I am just beyond grateful to be alive, to get an opportunity to continue to live this amazing and incredible life, to love my family and friends, to relish every moment. I have a long road to recovery, but I will heal and I will bounce back even better than before.

However, I wanted to take a moment and share with you all that a broken neck has taught me:

1. Laughter truly is the best medicine. Even before I got pain medicine I was laughing and joking with the ER staff and it made me feel better, made them work harder for me and we all truly made the best of a horrific situation. By the way, I was at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Michigan. Don't worry I didn't dink the water. Special shout out to Nikki who was the best ER nurse on the planet!!
2. If you need help ask for it. From the moment my accident occurred I called and asked people for help and I received the most incredible blessings from the person who held my hand all night in the ER to the person who picked me up at the airport to the person who washed my hair to the countless people who have given me love and support. Thank you!!
3. The best medicine is love and if it doesn't work, increase the dose. It is the one type of medicine you can never get enough of.
4. Trust and surrender. I have been a control freak the majority of my life whether it was professionally as a 911 Dispatcher or personally when I was married to a cop, however when you have a broken neck you have to stop, trust and surrender because it is all outside of your control. Go with it! By the way I went to church on Sunday to express my thanks to the big man above and the sermon was about surrender, there are no coincidences. 
5. Be thankful-every night when I go to bed I make a list of what I am grateful for. It can be small things like a good cup of coffee, big things like a day with no pain or things that touched only you or made you laugh or gave you joy, but say thank you and go to sleep with gratitude in your heart. It is so easy to be frustrated, negative or irritated, but truly life is too short to waste a single moment on those unproductive emotions. At the end of the day you have been given another day to live and there is no greater gift. 
6. Expect everyday miracles-I have found that miracles occur every single day it is just a matter of whether or not you are paying attention and noticing them. Sure it might not be everyday that water is turned to wine, but it is every single day that you meet someone who touches your heart, you walk into a doctors office that can change your life, that you get a phone call that makes you smile or you walk away from a car accident that you probably shouldn't have. 
7. There is strength in silence. I have had plenty of time to be still, to pray, to listen to myself, to journal and to truly hear my own voice. The blessings, the knowledge, the peace and the calm that comes with listening is a gift in and of itself. 
8. Angels come in all shapes and sizes. I have had so many "angels" cross my path in the last few weeks that they are too numerous to count. There was the man who climbed into the passenger seat of the car and talked to me while they were trying to extricate me from the car. He covered my face to protect me from the shattered glass, kept me calm, gave me a blanket to keep me warm and just kept me focused on his voice. I asked about him later when I was at the hospital as I assumed he was an officer or a medic, they believe he was an Army volunteer who had just come back from his tour of duty and was volunteering his time. This man that I didn't know, don't know how to thank and can't put a face to a voice because I was in a neck brace was my angel. 
9. Love with all of your heart. I have always read the motivational saying and reminders about telling those you love that you care because if you don't it may be too late and let me just say they are right. Express love through your actions, words and expressions, in all that you do. 
10. Keep your attitude positive and keep smiling. I was in the doctors office yesterday and I was joking around with the receptionist. Another patient walked in and noticed my neck brace because well, it is hard to miss. She asked me what happened and I told her I had been in a car accident and I had a broken neck. She looked at me with astonishment and she said,"but you are laughing." I smiled at her and I told her I had a lot to laugh about, I am alive.