True.

The Next Right Thing.

Posted on June 29, 2020 by loganhays

Life has been weird these past few months. A global pandemic has changed how our world operates. Daily routines have changed. Work has changed. Life has changed. Right now, sitting on my couch reflecting on the past few months and trying to figure out words for what has been happening.

This is this first time, in a very long time, that I have sat at my computer to write things down in a complete thought. I have notes typed in my phone, pictures saved, things scribbled on scrap paper, and random things placed in an ‘IDK’ folder on my computer. Most of them are random items that looking now make no sense and some are items that have turned into a daily or weekly reminders.

The top one: “Just do the next right thing.” – Queen Anna of Arendelle

I’m sure you have heard this many a time, in many different ways and in different situations. If you have watched the movie Frozen II, you’ve seen a very wonderful interpretation (with a musical experience) of just doing the next right thing.

One of my favorite parts from the Frozen II is the song, “The Next Right Thing”. I’ll give you the lyrics, because honestly we all need to read them.

I’ve seen dark before

But not like this

This is cold

This is empty

This is numb

The life I knew is over

The lights are out

Hello, darkness

I’m ready to succumb

I follow you around

I always have

But you’ve gone to a place I cannot find

This grief has a gravity

It pulls me down

But a tiny voice whispers in my mind

“You are lost, hope is gone

But you must go on

And do the next right thing”

Can there be a day beyond this night?

I don’t know any more what is true

I can’t find my direction, I’m all alone

The only star that guided me was you

How to rise from the floor

When it’s not you I’m rising for?

Just do the next right thing

Take a step, step again

It is all that I can to do

The next right thing

I won’t look too far ahead

It’s too much for me to take

But break it down to this next breath

This next step

This next choice is one that I can make

So I’ll walk through this night

Stumbling blindly toward the light

And do the next right thing

And with the dawn, what comes then

When it’s clear that everything will never be the same again?

Then I’ll make the choice

To hear that voice

And do the next right thing

Sometimes doing the next right thing is hard. I get it. I have been there. It is rough.

Without knowing it, I have been using this song as a mental health check.

Right now, the world is weird. Everyday something new happens. There is so much joy, hate, love, destruction, passion, and change going on. With that, feelings and headspace bungee back and forth. Step by step, we trudge along and adapt to the ever changing landscape.

Darkness can take over and things spiral out of control quick. We find ourselves deep in a dark cave with a small dim light at the top peeking through.

When this happens to me, I find myself going through the motions of normalcy. Why? Well, I guess it’s because that each step in my normal routine, is the next right thing for me to do. I get myself back into the groove, and then I can slowly get back into the full light.

Currently, the dark of the world can easily take over. We need to get our light shining and then help others find their lights.

Right now, what is the next right thing? Do what you need to do. Be who you need to be. Take it step by step. Take it breath by breath. You got this. The next right thing.

-Logie

Mounds Cookies

Posted on June 5, 2017 by loganhays

If you’re like me, you can’t say no to a Almond Joy or Mounds bar. These cookies (which can also be made into a bar) feed that hankering for the candy bar that takes you to the beach.

Things you will need:

A preheated oven to 325F.
14 oz bag of sweetened coconut flakes
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk

Optional: 2/3 cup chooped lightly salted almonds

How to make:

Combine all your ingredients in a bowl. No specific way, but I did wait until the end to add in the sweetened condensed milk.

Once mixed together, place on a baking sheet for cookies or dump whole mixture into pan for bars. For cookies, I used a small ice cream scoop and with the bars I lined the pan with parchment paper. Bake cookies for 12 minutes and then press them down with a glass when they come out of the over. For bars, bake for about 30-35 minutes depending on how brown you want them to be.

Coffee Cake Muffins

Posted on February 20, 2017 by loganhays

I like a good cup of coffee and a nice muffin to enjoy it with. Once I found this recipe on the handy-dandy Pinterest, I knew I had to try it out.

What You’ll Need:

For the muffin:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup canola oil
2 large eggs

For the crumb topping:

1/3 cup granulated Sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

For the glaze topping:

1/4 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon milk

First, start by heating up your oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit. You can line your muffin tin if you want, but I only do that if I’m making cupcakes.

Next, you will want to make your crumb topping so it has a chance to dry up a little before putting on top of the muffins. What my finished topping looked like is below, you are supposed to use parchment paper but we didn’t have any at the time.

Once your topping is set to the side to dry, you will want to start on the muffin batter. You’ll combine the dry ingredients first and then add the wet ingredients after. I used one bowl for this because I wanted to use less dishes, if you want to you can use two separate bowls for this step.

Once your batter is combined, pour into your muffin tin.

Once all your batter is in, pour over your crumb topping. I went a little heavy on the crumb topping because I like a little extra on my muffins.

Next, put in your preheated oven for 15-17 minutes.

Once out of the oven, let cool for 10 minutes and then put the glaze mixture on top.

Hope you enjoy!

-Logie

lemon glazed shortbread cookies

Posted on January 6, 2017 by loganhays

I found this recipe on the wonderful Pinterest and thought that I would give it a try, because who doesn’t like a quick and easy shortbread cookie??

First off, I did make a couple of tweaks to this recipe because I really like citrus flavors.

What you’ll need:

2 cups all purpose flour
2 sticks of softened, salted butter
1/2 cup of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilaa
lemon juice and/or lemon zest

fullsizerender-2

I like to measure out the dry ingredient into containers so then all I have to do is dump it into the bowl. It makes me feel like I am on the Food Network.

Combine butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla. (You can also add the lemon zest in if you want, but I would advise putting it with the glaze later on.) Then add the flour. If your dough is really dry and crumbly add a couple teaspoons of water to help.

Let chill in the fridge for atleast 30 minutes.

(This is when you really want to try the cookie dough, because who can wait 30 minutes??)

Once your dough is chilled, scoop the dough into balls (I used a little scoop for this).

Smash the balls down a little bit, not too much or you’ll get thin and crispy cookies.

Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Take off of tray when they come out of the oven and put on a piece of foil to cool.

Next up: lemon glaze!

What you’ll want to do either while the cookies are in the oven or when you’re waiting for them to cool is make the glaze.

Show above is the indgredients: powdered sugar and lemon juice.

Combine them ingredients together, it’s not an exact science but make sure it’s thick enough to not run off the cookies but not thin enough that it looks like milk. Got it?

Glaze after mixing. Then sprinkle over cookies with a fork or spoon.

I go a little heavy on the glaze because, I like it that way. You can use as much or as little as you want. Once the glaze dries, I usually move them to a container or platter after trying a couple to make sure they are good.

-Logie

Welcome to a New Year!

Posted on January 1, 2017 by loganhays

Cheers to a New Year! May your days be filled with joy and wonder!

I have decided that this year will be a year of teaching and expansion. Which means I will be posting more regularly about thoughts, food, and other ramblings. My hope with this decision is to not only help grow my own creativeness, but also teach others about different things and topics. As some of you know, I am very much in love with food and creative avenues which will hopefully be beneficial for many people. Which is the basis of this year-long project I am preparing to conquer and hope for you to follow along.

Let’s make 2017 a great one!

“A New Year has tiptoed in.

Let’s go forward to meet it.

Let’s welcome the 365 days it brings.

Let’s live well with love in our hearts towards God and all people.

Let’s walk through its corridors with praise songs on our lips.”

– Anusha Atukorala

-Logie

Let’s All Commit and Show Up

Posted on October 10, 2016 by loganhays

My friends, today is #WorldMentalHealthDay and I want you to commit and show up for not only the people around you, but also yourself. Everyone deserves the chance to be the best person they are meant to be and everyone around them helps them to become that person.

So, what does this mean for you? Take a self-pledge, or a public pledge, to make sure the people around you are safe. Safe from harm. Safe. Talk with them, ask them questions, let them know that you are there to talk when things go wrong. Show up and make sure they know you are there for them. All of our lives are busy, but we need to make time to undo a stigma with our mental health.

IF YOU are struggling, reach out. Let your groupies know you need some assistance. Even if it is a little hint, someone you love will know. Call a hotline, call a friend, call your doctor, message a friend, get ahold of someone.

This is hard to talk about, I know. But you want to know something? We have all been taught to love, so show love to your friends. Greet them with kindness when you know that they are having a diffult time. Do not dismiss their feelings because you “just can’t deal with it right now”. Well, if you can’t deal with it right now…let’s get you some help as well.

We all get in ruts and sometimes it takes longer, harder jumps to get back out. We all deserve the chance for our people, our groupies, our friends to pull us out of that rut. Let that love and compassion run from our bodies into the world around us.

It is OKAY to not be okay.

Let’s break this stigma together, as a family. Let’s do this for all our struggling people, the people we have lost, and for ourselves.

“When ‘i’ is replaced with ‘we’, ‘illness’ becomes ‘wellness’.” – Malcolm X

With a happy heart, a smile, and open ears,

Logie

#Food : Jalapeño Cream Cheese

Posted on June 17, 2016 by loganhays

In an attempt to use my skills in the kitchen, writing and photography, I have decided (and reinforced with a cool and hip Twitter poll) to start showing and teaching some of my favorite foods.

Today’s endeavor is Jalapeño Cream Cheese. I used to buy it at the store, but when I started going through two containers a week I quickly switched to making it myself.

Items you will need:

2 bricks of cream cheese

A jar of Jalapeños (you won’t use the whole thing, it can also be already diced)

Some way of mixing (I use a KitchenAid)

A sense of humor

A container to store it in

Alright, let’s get started:

I usually pull the cream cheese right of the fridge and use it.

If you like spicy spicy peppers, you can use those. The amount of hot and spicy is up to you.

I usually just buy diced jalapeños in a jar, but this time we had rings so I just chopped and diced them myself.

I drop about 2 tablespoons of the juice into the bottom of the bowl before I drop the bricks of cream cheese into the bowl.

When dropping in cream cheese, do not have the mixer on. I drop the bricks in and then start the mixer and let it go for a couple of minutes to make sure that the cream cheese is soft enough. I like mine a little on the ‘whipped and fluffy’ side.

While waiting for the cream cheese to get fluffy, I chop the jalepenos. It’s up to you on how much pepper you want in your dip. I like the crunch of a pepper so I use about 1/3 cup or more of peppers. You can rough chop or make itty bitty peppers. Again, it’s how you like it.

Add them peppers in.

Let the mixer do it’s work. I usually stop it after a few minutes and form a ball with a rubber spatula and then let it go for a couple more minutes. That way I know all the cream cheese and peppers are mixed together.

After I’m done mixing, I put it in a container. Yes, I taste test it before just in case I need a little more kick to it.

After I put it in a container, I like to put it in the fridge to let it groove together and get a little stiff.

You can use with just about anything. I like it with pretzels, crackers, apples, spread on a bagel, vegetables, and swooped up on my finger. Whatever you like to dip with, it’ll probably work with.

Enjoy.

-Logie

thnx

Posted on June 10, 2016 by loganhays

There are so many different ways to give thanks and today I want to give you all thanks.

Thank you for being you.

Thank you for helping bring joy into my life.

Thank you for the continuous support.

Thank you for all the times that you have helped me.

Thank you for the birthday wishes.

Thank you for helping me get my college degree.

Thank you for being a friend.

Thank you for being a sassy, sarcastic son of a gun.

Thanks for being the sun on a dark day.

Thanks for being here.

—

See there are so many things to be thankful for, but for me I have one thing I truly want to give thanks for: support.

Now I know you’re probably like “Ok Logie, you need to stop.”, but too bad that’s not going to happen.

I want to give everyone thanks for the support that they’ve given me all my life. Recently I turned 22 years old, graduated college and moved back home in a three day period.

As I sat in the graduation ceremony at 8:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning. As I began to look around and notice that in an arena where I was used to seeing seats full of basketball fans, I now saw an areana full of fans of the graduates on the floor. Families, friends, educators, and an endless supply of support sat and watched as we walked across the stage to get our diploma covers. {The diploma cover is symbol of hard work for a four, five, six, maybe even a 20 year period to further our education.} We marched across that stage, shook a few hands, maybe got a hug from a professor, got our picture taken, and then went and sat down until the final person walked across that stage. This is what we’ve been counting down to since we started the adventure called ‘College’.

Some of you have been on this journey since the days of Pre-K, while others have just started with me. No matter how long we’ve known each other, you’ve made an impact on me and why I do what I do. You have been my biggest fans, and hopefully I have been a fan for your life and accomplishments. So THANK YOU x1,000.

——

One of the many things that I have learned in my life is to say ‘thanks’ or ‘thank you’. Sometimes it’s just habit, but I’ve learned that the habit of saying ‘thanks’ is a gesture not everyone extends. The meaning of thanks can be used as a verb: to express gratitude, appreciation, or acknowledgment to. Then as a noun: a grateful feeling or acknowledgment of a benefit,favor, or the like, expressed by words or otherwise. Anytime that we give or grant thanks, we are expressing an emotion to another. Since we are are all human beings, we all deserve to give and receive thanks. So, as we all are starting off with a new summer season, I challenge all of you to start giving a unhabitual thanks to everyone that helps you or is a person in your life.

-Logie

hashtagDOITBIG

Posted on February 2, 2016 by loganhays

Recently I’ve entered my last semester of college{LARGE GASPS}. On the first few days of class three different questions have been asked in class:

Why are you here?(specifically the class/major)
What is the thing you want to do after you get your degree?
What is the difference you want to make?

Thought provoking for the first day of classes, amiright?

What’s even worse, we had to answer in class…yeah scary.

This got me thinking. Not like a normal think, but a hurt your brain forcing you to binge eat chocolate.

WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH MY LIFE?

Yeah, I have been asked countless times about what I’m going to do with my life after graduation but these questions are very different from the normal conversation piece. Usually my answer is “work with people” because, really that’s what I want to do, but when my professor brought the shovel out WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO DO? Answer the question to your best ability, that is what you are supposed to do.

I’m guessing that at this point in reading you want to know what my answers are, right? Well, okay, I guess.

I’m here because I want to get a degree that is useful to my life. I want to be able to help people communicate, but also I want to be able to effectively work with people. Yes, I know that that isn’t always the case, but I can try my darnedest to make that happen. My degree will be more than a piece of paper hanging in a majestic frame on the wall of some office space. It will be a collected experience of how and why I am who I am. After my degree I want to work with people to make them better people I don’t have a specific career choice because it doesn’t bother me where I am working, just as long as I am working with people. Yeah, I would enjoy being an academic advisor or even a teacher but I can teach people skills to make them better as a whole. In the perfect world, I want to do all of the things as big as I can. #DIB all day erryday.

The difference I want to make? To have a large population of people who believe in their abilities and shoot for their dreams. Plain and simple. I want people to push their self confidence to the greatest boundary.

—–

So, my advice to you?

hashtag

Big

Life. School. Eating. Whatever you dream, make it big and reach that goal. If it takes you getting on the shoulders of a 6’9″ person, do that.

Logie

Dear Valued Customer,

Posted on December 18, 2015 by loganhays

We understand that you have been busy, but we miss seeing you! To show how much we miss you, we are sending you a code for a free treat! Please enjoy a fresh breath of air with a drink on us!

Thanks,

*enter business name here*

—

Wouldn’t it be great if all industries gave us free treats because they missed us stopping by and getting something? Over this past semester I realized that life isn’t about how many things you can get done in a short amount of time, it is about allowing yourself to enjoy every moment of every single day. Yes, we are all busy and we pride ourselves on how many things we can get done in a single day, but have you thought how many people’s lives you can touch in one day? Here is some simple math for you, if you touch one person’s life each day for one year that equals 365. If you like money, one dollar for each day for one year equals $365.

Now, I know this seems like a simple task and you’re wondering why I’m spending my time sitting at my computer typing these words. There is a large reason for this. In six very short months, I will be a college graduate.

*let’s take a moment to take some deep breaths, in and out people in and out*

I don’t know what my plan is after I graduate, but I do know that I’m going to try everyday to help someone. Whether it is a small task like opening the door for someone or buying groceries for the person in front of you at the store who is $25 over the amount they have in cash. Maybe, it’s even just saying a quick prayer for a friend who is going through a difficult time or even saying a quick prayer for someone who just received great news. If prayer isn’t your thing, maybe writing someone a note to tell them how awesome they are or buying them that Dairy Queen Ice Cream cake they have been eyeing.

Whatever it may be, in the spirit of the New Year, let’s make some changes and use our special skills to make everyone around us peaceful and happy human beings.

Let’s go create a free treat for everyone,

Logie.