“Some of the most rewarding accomplishments are never told or heard of because they are done for personal growth and not personal recognition.”

My friend J put that up on Facebook the other day. I’m not sure if that was his own or someone else’s but I liked it. I know a lot of people who are in it for the personal recognition. My mom is a good example of this as she volunteers a lot. Now, I know this because I am her daughter and we talk a lot, but most people probably don’t realize the extent of what she does. Know why? Because she does it to be a good person and not to get personal recognition. She doesn’t need the pat on the back, that’s not why she does it (though I must shout out to my mom for being recognized for her efforts by the local women’s group in her town). But I know many a person who will tell me over and over again how and what they volunteer for because they want to hear the good for you. That’s not why you should be volunteering.

In my younger days when I was constantly taking classes I usually wasn’t telling people unless they said to me let’s go do something and I would just say I have class. They would then ask what I was taking and would follow up with “why on Earth would you take that class”. Because I like learning something? Because I found it interesting? When I moved to WA I wanted to go to the University of Washington for a degree, which they wouldn’t let me in the program because I wasn’t going to be doing something with my degree, just taking the classes and getting the degree for personal growth. I found that rather sad that you can’t just learn to learn. Thank goodness my previous Educational Institutions only cared if the check cleared.

My friend E gets all amused at the people who are constantly saying they are at the gym or boot camp or yoga on Facebook or Twitter. She mostly is amused because number one these people are looking for the good for you I should be doing that too AND because she has noticed a trend that I must say I noticed as well (after she pointed it out). All of our friends who let us know they are at the gym, running, etc… seem to be either currently over weight or recently have lost weight. Just go to the gym and be done with it. For you, and you alone. For the record E is in outstanding shape and works out all the time, you just never hear about it.

And when you return from the gym, feel free to eat one of these little babies. I made these a while back using my beloved Circus Animal Cookies for a birthday treat a few years back and decided I should just make the original ones using Oreos (though I used Trader Joe’s Jo-Jo’s because I like them better). These are perfect because they are just the right size. Everyone gets a few bites of cookies and cream cheesecake and then you are done. The Oreo at the bottom as crust adds a nice touch as well.

In completely unrelated note, thanks to whomever the reader was that put some of my pages on Stumble Upon, you have caused my traffic to go up (and that’s a very good thing!!!). So thanks to whoever is doing that, and if you have a Stumble Upon account feel free to stumble me please, it really does help!

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Bites

21 cream-filled sandwich cookies, such as Oreos (I used Jo-Jo’s), 15 left whole, and 6 coarsely chopped
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup sugar
½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
½ cup sour cream
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

With an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

Divide batter evenly among cookie-lined cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

From Martha Stewart Cupcakes by Martha Stewart