Snapshots of Life

Food For Friday: Homemade Larabars

2012-02-10T14:04:00.002-06:00

We suspect that Hudson might have a food allergy/sensitivity, so almost 2 weeks ago, I eliminated all dairy from my diet. That eliminated my favorite granola bars for a quick and easy snack, so when I saw this recipe for Homemade Larabars, I decided to give it a try! They were fairly easy to make with the help of my food processor, and a good snack to grab as I rushed through the kitchen in between nursing sessions, laundry, diaper changes, and entertaining my little man.

A disclaimer: I've never eaten an actual Larabar, so I can't comment on how these compare to the real deal. They were described on the recipe as tasting like Snicker's bars, and I definitely wouldn't go that far! These bars have chocolate peanut butter flavor, but they don't even come close to tasting like a Snicker's bar in my book, especially because the underlying date flavor is still very noticeable. Just had to get that out there!

With Larabars costing over $1.00 each, these homemade bars are definitely a more economical way to have a tasty energy bar on hand. They would also be an awesome addition if you are taking a meal to a family with a new baby because they are a perfect quick snack for nursing moms.

I adjusted the recipe a little and used 1 lb of dates, which came out to be about 3 cups, from the bulk section of our natural foods store. I also used vegan chocolate chips to meet my diary free requirement. The next time that I make a batch of these bars, I think I will add in another tablespoon of peanut butter to see if I can up the peanut butter flavor. You can find the recipe here!

Our Little Snowbaby

2012-02-06T14:29:00.006-06:00

This past weekend, we had a huge snowstorm that left us with 17 inches of snow over 2 days. We got another few inches the following day for a total somewhere around 20 inches! We enjoyed some cozy family time in our pj's and drank our fair share of hot chocolate. Just for fun, we took Hudson outside a couple of times to see the snow, and to "measure" how deep it was. The first day, the snow was about half a baby deep, and Hudson wasn't quite sure what he thought of it...

On day two, it was nearly 2/3 of a baby deep, and Hudson was much more interested! It was so deep we didn't even have to hold onto to his arm because the snow itself propped him up. We laughed watching him explore the snow and captured some fun pictures of our little snowbaby!

Hmmm, what is this white stuff?

Hey, I can pick it up!

It's kind of fun!

I wonder what it tastes like?

It's kind of deep.

It's sticking to my mitten.

I think I like it.

See? I'm a big boy!

Happy.

Happier.

Happiest.

Faaaaalllllling.

Just chillin'.

I'm not so sure about laying down in it!

We love that Hudson will grow up experiencing all four seasons, and his Daddy is hoping he'll want to join him on the slopes in the next couple of of years!

Felt Flower Embellishments

2012-01-14T19:48:00.000-06:00

Before Hudson was born, I was on the hunt for a diaper bag that was both cute and functional. A lot of my friends had recommended Skip Hop bags, and there was a pattern with colors that I liked, but I wanted to add an embellishment to up the cute factor. I searched felt flowers on Pinterest for inspiration and used felt and embroidery thread in the colors of the bag to craft some of my own. I sewed the finished felt flowers onto a strip of felt with velcro to wrap around one of the diaper bag straps, so the flowers are removable.

This bag has been getting a lot of use!

Food For Friday: Oatmeal Peanut Butter Chip Muffins

2012-01-06T23:40:00.022-06:00

These muffins make a delicious breakfast or quick snack. I love muffins and as I have been looking for ways to add more whole grains to our diet, the whole oats and whole wheat flour in these muffins were a great way to do that. And without all of the chemicals that come in most packaged muffin mixes. They have a hearty, dense texture, but not an overly wheaty flavor. They freeze well, so I often make a double batch and freeze half. Pull a muffin or two out of the freezer the night before to defrost for breakfast, and then heat for 15-30 seconds in the microwave just before eating.

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (Be sure you are using pastry flour! I use Bob's Red Mill)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 large egg
1 cup milk (I use 1%)
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup peanut butter chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place 12 muffin papers in a muffin pan.
In a bowl, soak 1 cup of oats in the milk for 15 minutes.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder & salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.
After the oats have soaked, add the egg, vanilla, and oil to the oats & milk and stir to combine. Add the oat mixture to the well in the flour mixture & stir quickly with a fork until the flour mixture is moistened and combined. Mix in the peanut butter chips.
Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Hudson's First 3 Months

2012-01-02T01:31:00.000-06:00

I have been wanting for months, literally, to share more photos of our adorable little guy! But, my days have been full of cuddling him and kissing his sweet cheeks instead. I am trying my best to soak in every moment with our sweet boy because I know how fast they grow. He has already changed so much! Mixed in with the love and joy I feel when I stare at his precious face is a little bit of sadness because every week I wish I could freeze him exactly as he is. Each new week brings new things learned, a little more chub, new expressions, and change. Even though we think he just gets cuter every week, I can't help but wish that each stage could last a little bit longer because we love him so much and there is nothing quite as sweet as holding your baby boy in your arms. Each week I think he will never again be the exact same kind of cute as he is this week.

When I think of a word that sums up what Hudson has brought to our life, I immediately think of the word joy. He has brought a fullness of joy to our home and our lives beyond what we could have imagined. He has the sweetest demeanor and a huge smile that he can't keep to himself. He is truly a happy baby. My sweet husband has always brought smiles to my face on a daily basis, but I think our smiling has multiplied a hundred times over with this cute guy to love. We can't help but smile every time we look at that sweet face. I love that he brings a smile to the face of others as well. When we are out, nearly everyone that sees him smiles. What a blessing that our little bundle of joy can bring joy to others!

Here are a few of my favorite photos of Hudson's first 3 months:

Not sure what to think about his 1st car ride on the way home from the hospital.

We figured out in his first days home from the hospital that he loves music. He loves watching his mobile and kicks his little feet whenever we lay him down and start winding it up.

He LOVES his hands, and in his first months, they were always somewhere on or near his face if he wasn't swaddled. He literally fell asleep with his hands like this one afternoon and we thought it was so funny!

His first snow in mid-October.

Our little giraffe dressed up for Halloween.

He really enjoys his playmat and he especially loves looking at and talking to himself in his mirror. He started rolling over at 5 weeks! So, he doesn't get much tummy time because he just wants to roll over so he can play with his toys.

Our first Thanksgiving as a family of 3. We have so much to be thankful for this year!

We even think his pouty lip is adorable!

A Very Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T11:56:00.001-06:00

From our family to yours, we hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

Food For Friday: Taco Soup

2011-12-16T21:46:00.000-06:00

After Hudson's birth, my friend Rachel brought us Taco Soup for dinner. We thought it was delicious, and especially in the winter, I love easy, hearty soups. When it can go into the crockpot and be ready to eat whenever we are, that is even better!

Ingredients:

3-4 chicken breasts cooked and shredded

1 can of crushed tomatoes, 14.5 oz (you could also used diced tomatoes)

1 can of low sodium chicken broth

1 can Rotel

1 can of corn (I used frozen corn and measured it with a can)

1 can of black beans

1 pkg. Taco Bell taco seasoning

1 pkg. dry ranch

Garnish:

Shredded Monterrey Jack & Colby cheese

Tortilla Chips or Fritos

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a crockpot. Simmer on low for 2 hours. Serve topped with shredded cheese and crumbled tortilla chips or Fritos.

You can also cook it in less time on the stovetop, if you'd rather. Combine all the ingredients in a large pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

Food For Friday: Chicken Pad Thai

2011-12-02T13:45:00.000-06:00

Food for Friday is finally back! I tried a new recipe this week for the first time since Hudson was born, and it got two thumbs up from both me and Truman. I had turned on an episode of Ten Dollar Dinners on the Food Network one afternoon earlier this week and she was making a Turkey Pad Thai dish as a suggestion of how to use Thanksgiving turkey leftovers. The flavor profile of the dish sounded delicious, so I made a mental note that I wanted to look up the recipe. While I was at the grocery store that night, I spontaneously decided to pick up the ingredients she used in the dish so we could try it. But that required me recalling the ingredient list from memory. Surprisingly, despite new mom brain being in full force, I made it home with all of the ingredients I needed that weren't already in my pantry. I made a few changes to the recipe, and used chicken breast instead of turkey, since we didn't host Thanksgiving and therefore didn't have any leftover turkey! It isn't a difficult dish, but there is a lot of chopping involved, which makes it a little more time consuming. But, the end result is worth the effort and we agreed that this dish is going to be in the regular rotation at our house!

Adapted from a recipe by Melissa d'Arabian on Ten Dollar Dinners

Ingredients:
1/4 cup boiling water
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 limes, 1 juiced and 1 cut into wedges for serving
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce (you could also substitute fish sauce, but I used soy sauce)
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sriracha hot sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded or cubed cooked chicken breast
8 ounces whole wheat linguini, broken in half
2 tablespoons peanut oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 large carrot, grated
1/2 cup chopped peanuts
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 cups bean sprouts
3 scallions, cut into small pieces

Directions:
First, make the sauce. In a medium mixing bowl, pour the boiling water over the brown sugar and stir to dissolve. Add the lime juice, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sriracha and stir. Place the cooked chicken in the pad Thai sauce and let it absorb the flavors while prepping the rest of the dish.
Next, prepare the pasta. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the linguine according to the time on the box. Drain, and set aside.
While the pasta is boiling, work on washing and chopping the vegetables.

Heat the peanut oil in a wok or large saute pan over high heat until very hot, almost smoking. Add the onions and stir fry 1 minute. Add the garlic and stir, cooking until the onions are soft & translucent. Then add the eggs and cook for about 30 seconds, stirring, until the eggs are cooked through. Add the linguini, chicken with sauce, and grated carrot, and cook for a few minutes, stirring until heated through. Remove from heat and put into a large serving dish or individual bowls. Top with the bean sprouts, chopped cilantro, scallions, and peanuts.

Christmas Mail

2011-11-30T20:16:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite things is real mail. Stamped, handwritten, personal notes or cards that arrive in my mailbox. And one of the many reasons that Christmas is my favorite time of the year is the joy I get from opening the mailbox each day to find Christmas cards from friends and family. Starting after Thanksgiving, I get excited when I hear our mailbox hinge squeak every afternoon and can't wait to see what cards arrived that day. I love that photo cards have become popular in recent years and enjoy displaying the festive photos of loved ones during the Christmas season. I have a project up my sleeve for a fun new way to display all of those cards this year, and I was hoping to have it finished for this post, but that was a little ambitious with a 2 month old at home! Hopefully it will be coming soon, though!

We have sent a photo Christmas card every year since we've been married, and for the first few years, I struggled to find a card design that fit the look I envisioned in my head. So we ended up designing our own cards for several years. Last year, we received several Christmas cards & birth announcements from a company called Tiny Prints and I immediately fell in love with their designs. Their modern designs are exactly the style that I would design myself and the quality of their cards is fabulous. I knew that this year, I would find a favorite design from Tiny Prints for our Christmas card.

I have decided on the styling for our Christmas photo, and even purchased a cute new outfit this week for the star of our family photo this year (smile), and we'll be taking our 2011 Christmas photo this coming week. I haven't made a decision yet on which card we'll pick, but I took a quick look at this season's options from Tiny Prints and here are a few of my favorites:

Have you designed your Christmas card yet? You can find hundreds of fun designs and some great sales right now at Tiny Prints! I enjoy designing our Christmas card for friends & family just as much as I enjoy receiving them, and I am looking forward to getting started on a card to wish our loved ones a very merry Christmas this year!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tiny Prints. I am really excited about this new option for photo cards and wanted to share it with you!

He's Here!

2011-09-23T01:26:00.000-05:00

Introducing....

Hudson KaiYi Lo

Born September 12, 2011

12:20 am

7 lbs 2.5 oz

20 inches long

We are in love!

More pictures coming soon!

Hudson's Blessing Ring

2011-09-09T18:01:00.000-05:00

I first saw the idea for a Blessing Ring over a year ago on the blog Bless Our Nest. Shannon made one for her son and I thought it was such a sweet keepsake for saving all of the cards you receive during pregnancy and after the baby is born to celebrate your little one's new life. I bookmarked the idea to remember it for when we started our own family. I will add all of the cards that Hudson receives throughout his first year of life.

It is a super easy project and only requires a few supplies! The ring is actually a silver necklace that I bought in the jewelry supply aisle at Hobby Lobby for less than $2.00 on sale. It comes in a cardboard and cellophane package. Make sure to get the type of necklace that is sturdy and holds its shape in a circle when it is clasped. Mine just has a U shaped hook on both ends that hook together to keep it closed, (no clasp) which makes it easier to add the cards. You also need 3-4 different ribbons in colors and patterns that you like or that match your nursery. You will simply cut lengths of ribbon as long as you like (I wanted mine to hang out beneath the cards 6-8 inches) and tie them onto the necklace with a simple knot, leaving a 2 inch tail at the top. Use a hole punch to punch a hole in the top left corner of each of your cards. Tie a ribbon onto the necklace, add several cards, then add another ribbon, repeating until you've added all of your cards. An optional step, that I did because I don't want the ends of my ribbons to fray over time where they were cut, is to add a drop of Fray Check to the ends of each ribbon. You can find Fray Check at any craft store in the sewing supply section. They even carry it at Walmart.

I love that just glancing at the Blessing Ring is a reminder to you and your child of how much they are loved and how many people are praying for them!

PBK Transportation Art: My Version

2011-09-08T17:06:00.001-05:00

When I first saw this artwork in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog, it immediately caught my eye, and I found it online to add to my Pinterest nursery idea board. Their version is $207 for all 3 canvases. I would never spend that for nursery artwork. Definitely not in our budget! When we found out Hudson was a boy, I knew that I wanted to create a version of these canvases for his nursery.

Truman used Photoshop to create the shapes in files that my Silhouette craft cutter could cut. I found an assortment of scrapbook paper in the colors I wanted to incorporate into the nursery and patterns that worked with the vintage theme. The canvases were purchased in a value pack at Michael's with a 40% off coupon. I used the font Minion Pro to cut the letters out of scrapbook paper as well. Each canvas was painted with a coat of white acrylic paint, then I used very watered down Burnt Umber acrylic paint and a foam brush to "age" them. I brushed on the watered down Burnt Umber paint, let it sit for a minute, then used a paper towel to dab and brush the liquid off and blend the edges. I did a second layer of "aging" with the same process in the areas that I wanted to be darker. After the canvases were painted, I used Mod Podge just on the back of each letter and shape to affix them to the canvas, being sure to smooth out any bubbles from the scrapbook paper.

My version came in at just over $10 for all 3 canvases! I like my price a LOT better! And I love that I was able to create the pieces in colors that coordinated with our nursery. Here are the two side by side:

I am so happy with how they turned out!

Nursery Progress: Refinished Dresser/Changing Table

2011-09-07T15:17:00.001-05:00

I've gotten a few messages checking in on me since it's been awhile between my posts! (It's nice to know I've been missed. Thanks, blog friends!) I'm here! And I have lots of updates to catch up on. I am just one week away from my due date and we have been busy preparing for Hudson's arrival. In the last few weeks we've made a lot of progress in the nursery and it is almost completely finished. I have a bunch of photos of nursery projects ready to post, so hopefully I'll be posting lots of updates from the couch in the next week (or maybe 2) while I wait for Hudson to make his appearance!

I knew the exact style that I wanted for Hudson's dresser/changing table and I wanted to refinish a piece with a painted vintage finish rather than purchase something new. We scored this dresser for cheap on Craigslist and while it was very worn and beat up with lots of nicks and scratches, it was sturdy, solid wood, had a nice shape, and was the perfect size to fit on the wall where we wanted to put it in the nursery. Here's the dresser before:

And after!

I am thrilled with how it turned out! Hudson's daddy worked SO hard sanding, filling in the large scratches and nicks with wood filler, and painting....all jobs that I usually do when we refinish a piece of furniture. They are far from Truman's favorite tasks, but it was a labor of love, and he did an awesome job! I distressed the paint and added the glaze...wearing a mask, of course!

We used Behr Premium Plus Ultra paint plus primer in an eggshell finish in the color Eminence to paint the dresser and Ralph Lauren glaze in Tea Stain. This was my first time using the Ralph Lauren glaze that I've read so much about on different blogs and I completely understood all the buzz! It is super easy to work with. I brushed it on with a Purdy brush in small areas, then used a damp rag to wipe it off, allowing it to stay in the cracks and crevices and leaving some aging on the edges and corners as well. Home Depot no longer carries the Ralph Lauren glaze, but RL does still make it, so I would recommend checking with a specialty local paint shop if you are trying to find it. In the Denver area, Guiry's carries it. We kept the original hardware from the dresser and spray painted it with Rustoleum's Heirloom White, then I used the same RL glaze on top of the spray paint to age it and make it less shiny & new.

I'm not going to post an actual tutorial because there are awesome ones already out there that do a fabulous job of explaining the techniques that I used. Check out the e-book "Paint Your Furniture" from Altar'd for lots of great hints & how-to's for painting furniture. All Things Thrifty has a great explanation of how to use the Ralph Lauren glaze that you can find here. And feel free to e-mail me with any other specific questions!

Showered with Love in Texas

2011-08-04T10:50:00.001-05:00

During our visit to Texas, we also had our first baby shower! Hudson was showered with love, and some pretty cute gifts too! It was a blessing to be able to celebrate his life with friends and family that we don't get to see often enough.

The mama-to-be on shower day! 25 weeks

All of the guests who came to celebrate with us!

Cute onesie decorations...

The sweet blue & green train themed plates and napkins...

A delicious cupcake cake! They had a train track set up around the cake table...

Fun little baby booty favors filled my favorite, chocolate!

We played a memory game with a tray full of baby items...

Everyone decorated onesies for our little guy... (they had some really cute ideas!)

And I opened some adorable gifts for baby Lo! It is fun to think that in just over 2 months, he is going to be wearing these cute little outfits...

He even got a tiny fleece perfect for our Colorado native baby. His daddy was super excited about his first outdoor "gear!" I think there will be lots of outdoor adventures, hikes & camping trips in their future...

With the hostesses, Truman's cousins, Cynthia & Emily, and his mom....

And two of the students I discipled in Texas with our college ministry at UT, Rachel and Joy. It was so special to me to get to visit with them. It was also the first baby shower they've attended!

We were so thankful to be able to celebrate our little blessing with our friends & family in Texas. We are excited for everyone to meet him! Thank you for showering us, and baby Hudson, with love!

Our Little Guy's Name...

2011-08-01T12:28:00.000-05:00

Hudson, we are so excited to meet you! We can't believe that you will be here in just 6 weeks (or so!)

Hydrangea Love

2011-07-24T22:52:00.001-05:00

I shared back in April that my mom had gotten me 2 hydrangea plants for my birthday. Hydrangeas are one of my absolute favorite flowers. We had them in our wedding. I love the beautiful, huge blooms and how even just one bloom looks beautiful & full in a small vase.

This plant had major transplant shock after we planted it (and I'm sure the fact that we had a couple of late snows didn't help!) Its leaves turned brown and it was looking sad and small next to the other plant of a different variety that fared much better. But, in the last few weeks, after a nervous call to the nursery by me earlier this spring (during which they assured me it wouldn't die even if the whole plant turned brown) and lots of care & watering by Truman, tons of new bright green leaves popped out and it began to look much healthier. Last week, my little hydrangea plant bloomed and I had such joy in my heart to see this single beautiful bloom! I had to take a photo to document it. There are lots of other buds growing, so I am hopeful that there will be many more blooms before the summer is over.

Food For Friday: Pizza Bites

2011-07-22T22:41:00.001-05:00

I first heard about this recipe for Pizza Bites from my friend Wendy. She said they were delicious and I added them to our list of recipes to try. Mine didn't turn out as picture perfect as Annie's Eats did, but they were definitely delicious.

These would make a great appetizer if you are entertaining or to take to a party, but we ate them for dinner as a modified "pizza." I served them with a side of spicy pesto spaghetti sauce for dipping.

I followed Annie's Eats recipe except that I used this same night pizza dough from the Barefoot Contessa's Back to Basics cookbook because it didn't require as long to rise and I didn't have any bread dough on hand. You only need half of the dough to make 24 pizza bites.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 packages dry yeast
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups all-purpose flour (I use unbleached), plus extra for kneading
2 teaspoons Kosher salt

Directions:
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the water, yeast, honey, and olive oil. When the yeast is dissolved, add 3 cups of flour and the 2 teaspoons of Kosher salt, and mix on medium-low speed. While mixing, add in 1 additional cup of flour so a soft dough forms. Mix on medium-low speed for 10 minutes. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface, sprinkle the top with a little bit of flour, and knead it by hand a dozen times. It should be firm, but smooth and elastic. Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl (I use olive oil) and turn the dough over to cover it lightly with oil. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow the dough to rise at room temperature for 30 minutes. Dough is ready to be used after 30 minutes.

Note: This recipe will make 2 large or 6 small pizzas. Use half a batch of dough for 24 Pizza Bites. Leftover dough can be stored in a ziploc bag in the refrigerator for several days.

The only other ways I deviated from the original recipe:
I baked our Pizza Bites in a square 8 inch pan instead of a pie pan because it was clean and already out. I was going for fast and easy!
I used fresh mozzarella cheese cut into 1 inch-ish cubes. I made half of our Pizza Bites with cheese only for me, and half with pepperoni for the hubs.
I grated fresh parmesan cheese on the top before baking.

One other thing to note, if you don't get the dough totally sealed around the cheese, or you stretch a tiny hole in the piece of dough as you are wrapping the bites, the cheese will ooze out during baking. I think this is especially true if you use fresh mozzarella like I did because it is softer and has more moisture in it than already cubed part skim mozzarella. They still tasted great and the little bit of oozed out cheese didn't bother me!

A Visit to Texas

2011-07-13T17:59:00.000-05:00

It has been two years since we relocated to Denver from Austin, and we hadn't been back to Austin to visit since our move. It had also been almost a year and a half since we'd been back to Houston to visit Truman's family, and our friends & ministry partners that live there. We decided that we should make a trip back before Little Lo's arrival, and in early June, we headed back to Texas for a whirlwind visit to both Austin and Houston. We got our fill of delicious Tex Mex, which is hard to come by in Colorado, including our favorites, Chuy's and Lupe Tortilla. Truman got his fill of authentic Chinese food from Houston's Chinatown, which he looks forward to on any visit back to Texas. We got to spend time catching up with a lot of friends, visit several churches that support us in ministry, and visit with some of our ministry partners.

We are usually terrible about taking photos with friends that we see during our visits back to Texas, so I made a goal to be more intentional about getting pictures with everyone this trip. We weren't 100% successful, and we forgot to take a picture with several fun friends that we got to spend time with, but we did better than in the past!

The children of our friends are the biggest reminder of how long it's been since our last visit....they grow and change so quickly and several of our friends have kids that are now at least a year old who we hadn't yet gotten to meet! It's fun to think that on our next trip back to Truman's home state, we'll be introducing everyone to our son!

We're an Aunt & Uncle!

2011-07-10T15:03:00.000-05:00

In March, Truman's sister & brother-in-law, Carita & Dennis, adopted a precious baby boy. We finally had the chance to meet sweet Jacob during our visit to Texas last month, when he was about 2.5 months old! We are absolutely in love with him.

Jacob becoming a part of our family was a joyous miracle, and a huge answer to many, many prayers after a nearly decade long struggle with infertility for Dennis & Carita. I am not even going to attempt to share their journey or the story of Jacob's adoption, but Dennis shares it beautifully in a series of a blog posts that he wrote shortly after they brought Jacob home. You can read their story here:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
You might want to have some tissues handy!

Jacob seriously couldn't be any more adorable! Even his fabulous extra chubby, squeezable thighs are perfect. And they have seriously gotten even chubbier since we took these pictures last month.

When we found out that we were having a son, shortly after Dennis & Carita adopted Jacob, Truman was extra excited because the cousins will only be 6 months apart in age. We hope they'll have lots of fun memories together, especially with both of them being boys and being so close in age!

Jacob is already so loved! And his Uncle Truman and Aunt Amber are big fans!

Nursery Progress: Board & Batten

2011-07-07T23:09:00.000-05:00

With just 10 weeks to go until my due date, we are in full preparation mode for Little Lo. We are making progress in decorating the nursery! We picked up our crib tonight, the bedding arrived earlier this week, I ordered extra fabric with the bedding to sew curtains this weekend, I bought a mobile off of Craigslist yesterday, and I have collected a pile of supplies to create some art for the room. I am so excited to see it all come together!

After moving my craft room to the basement & emptying out the future nursery, our first step was to install board and batten. Here are a few before photos of the room:

And after with the board & batten all finished!

We are so happy with how it turned out! Adding the board & batten gave the room a lot more character, makes it feel lighter & brighter, and the finished trim work turned out exactly as I had envisioned it in my head. (Don't you love it when that happens?!)

You will notice that I am absent from all of the "action" photos of the board & batten progress. That is because I didn't do any of the work! I helped to decide on the logistics of the project and brainstorm some ideas and "assisted" briefly a couple of times when Tru needed an extra set of hands to hold the longer horizontal pieces while he nailed them in, but otherwise, he completed this project entirely on his own over a couple of weekends and several evenings. He did an awesome job! He got a new tool (a nail gun) as a part of the job.

For those of you who might be interested in installing board & batten as well, I am not going to write a complete step-by-step tutorial because there are already some detailed & very helpful ones out there. So, I will share the tutorials with you that we found the most helpful, and then just share some of the specific details of how we decided to execute the project in our space. We found this tutorial from It's The Little Things incredibly helpful. Kimba also shares some valuable hints in her tutorial on A Soft Place To Land.

We used 1/2 inch MDF, which we purchased in sheets from Home Depot. We had them cut the sheets into strips for us. We lucked out because we were there on Father's Day evening and it wasn't busy so they were willing to take the time to make the cuts for us....all 30ish of them. If they are busy, they will be hesitant to make that many cuts and tie up the saw, so if you are hoping they will cut the strips for you, I would recommend going at an "off time" when they won't be as busy to increase your chances!

There are several different ways that I've seen people deal with their existing woodwork at the bottom, from leaving the overhang of the wider MDF where it meets their baseboards to cutting the bottom of each vertical strip up at an angle to make it thinner where it meets the baseboard, to ripping out the baseboard and replacing it with MDF strips to match. As we looked at our situation and our particular baseboard, we opted to do something I haven't seen done on any other tutorials. Our baseboards are significantly narrowed at the top, so we opted to cut the bottom of each board at a 45 degree angle, with the point facing down, so that the point of each strip would overlap the top of our baseboard just a little bit. (I forgot to take a close up photo of this, but will try to add one soon.)

We made our thicker horizontal strip around the top 3.5 inches wide and the vertical strips 2 inches wide. We spaced 12-13 inches between each strip. Unless you have long one really long wall, you will visually not be able to tell if they aren't all exactly the same width apart. Deviating a little bit will help you to avoid obstacles in the room like light switches, outlets, and vents so you don't have start and stop your trip pieces above and below them. We started with a tricky spot, under the window where the vent was, and then worked out from there (as recommended by the tutorial on It's The Little Things.) We then measured out from those first 2 vertical strips, and used painters tape to hold the tops of the strips in place while we moved around the room and adjusted the spacing until we had all of the strips where we wanted them.

We would highly recommend installing in this order:
1. Mark off your walls with a pencil all the way around the room where you want the board and batten to stop, and then paint your walls white up to that mark. (We marked approximately the middle of where the horizontal strips would hang so we could be sure that those boards would cover our paint line.)
2. Prime the top and sides of each strip of plain MDF with Kilz, then paint each one with two coats of white paint. We used Behr Plus Primer from Home Depot and had them custom color match the paint to the color that was on our woodwork when we moved in. It will be SO much easier to paint the strips with their initial coats of paint before they are on the wall, then you can apply just one coat after they are hung and you have filled your nail holes!
3. Hang the horizontal strips first, being sure to use a level to make sure they are straight.
4. Plan the spacing & placement of each vertical strip, and use a pencil to mark both sides of the strip onto the wall in the spot where you are going to hang each. You won't see your pencil marks after you caulk and paint the final coat.
5. Hang the vertical strips. You will want to use a level to make sure these are also straight.
6. Use paintable caulk to caulk along both sides of each vertical strip, which will fill in the seams and give it a much more finished look! Make sure to use paintable caulk! Thrifty Decor Chick gives a helpful tutorial on caulking & spackling if it is new to you.
7. Fill the nail holes with spackle and sand down when dry.
8. Apply 1 additional coat of paint to all the strips to cover the caulk & nail holes. Truman rolled the flat tops of the strips, then used a brush to paint the sides of the strips as he went along. After you've given one additional coat to all of the strips, you can touch up as needed if spackle is still showing through in some spots.

Those are our hints & tips after installing board & batten and doing lots of research to decide how we were going to go about it. It isn't necessarily a difficult project, but it is tedious. But, it was definitely worth the effort (and Tru agrees too!)

I am excited to share the other projects & details of the nursery as it comes together over the next month or so! I am even more excited to have a finished room all ready for our little guy's arrival!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T14:04:00.000-05:00

Last night, we celebrated the 4th a little early with our friends David & Kelli at the Civic Center Independence Eve celebration in downtown Denver. More than 100,000 people filled the Civic Center Park lawns between the Capitol and the Denver City and County Building for a fun night of festive music & fireworks. The Colorado Symphony played a free concert that provided a patriotic soundtrack for a firework show & light display set off from the roof of the Denver City and County Building.

The light show was 3D, so we all received these awesome flag 3D glasses. It was a little too psychedelic for me though, so I stuck with traditional viewing once the fireworks started....my eyes.

We enjoyed beautiful weather with fun company and were again reminded why we love living in Denver! We hope you are having a fun weekend celebrating our nation's independence with your friends and family too.

Food For Friday: Cheesy Baked Ziti

2011-07-01T16:27:00.000-05:00

A few months ago, a friend from our church small group brought us dinner and she brought by this delicious baked ziti. We liked it so much we got the recipe from her and have made it several times since. It makes a huge batch of pasta, so unless you are feeding a large family, it's another great recipe to either freeze half of or make a double batch to freeze one for later (freeze after you assemble it and before you bake it.) When he has a choice, ziti is not my husband's favorite pasta shape, so I usually use farfalle (bowtie) pasta instead. It's quick and easy to assemble, faster than a lasagna, but with a very similar flavor to lasagna. Great, in my opinion, for a quick and easy dinner at home! Serve with salad and garlic bread for a complete meal.

Ingredients:

1 box (approx. 1 lb) of pasta (I usually use Barilla Plus Farfalle)

1 yellow onion, diced fine

1 lb of ground beef (or a combination of ground beef & Italian sausage)

Grated fresh Parmesan cheese

2 jars of spaghetti sauce (I like to use Classico Roasted Garlic)

1 package (6-8 oz.) of sliced Provolone cheese

1 1/2 cups sour cream

6 oz. shredded Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Boil pasta noodles according to directions on package, until tender. Over medium heat, spray a large sautee pan with olive oil and sautee onion for a few minutes. Add the ground beef (and Italian sausage if using a combination) and brown the meat with the onion until it is cooked through. Pour in the 2 jars of sauce and mix together.

Spray a large casserole dish with cooking spray or olive oil. Place half of the cooked pasta in the bottom of the dish. Layer 1/2 of the meat sauce, all of the sour cream, and all of the provolone slices on top of the pasta. Put the other 1/2 of the pasta on top of the provolone, then top with the rest of the meat sauce, the shredded mozzarella, and a sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese on top.

Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through and the cheese is bubbling. (If you assemble and refrigerate before baking, bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Allow extra time if baking from frozen.)

After removing it from the oven, allow it to set for 5 minutes before serving.

25 Week Maternity Photos

2011-06-30T22:36:00.001-05:00

I have several posts to share of what we've been up to for the past month, from a trip to Texas to working on the nursery! While we were in Texas, a friend & former student of ours took some 25 week maternity photos for us. We are planning to take one more set as we near the end of the pregnancy, but we thought it would be fun to have some in the middle as well. In most of my belly photos, Truman is taking the picture, so I appreciate having some with him in the photo too and not behind the camera like he usually is! Here are a few of our favorites:

Thanks, J. Lau Photography!

Tiny Tags Necklace

2011-06-27T00:30:00.000-05:00

I have literally had my eye on a stamped silver necklace for years. I often found myself browsing the different styles on blogs and websites, knowing that I wanted a circle necklace with Truman's and my initials or names on it. Last month, I had a gift certificate to use and The Rusted Chain was having a sale, and I finally ordered myself the Teeny Tags necklace. I love the simplicity of the small tags and tiny pearl and I have worn it many times since it arrived in my mailbox. I can even order additional tags to add to it if I decide that I'd like to add the initials of our children in the future. It was worth the wait and has been a fun new addition to my jewelry box!

Preston Family Session

2011-06-23T19:00:00.000-05:00

We recently had the opportunity to head to a neighborhood park with the Preston family for an evening shoot. The mom, Danielle, was actually our birth class teacher, which is how we met their family. (Side note: If you are in the Denver area and looking for a birth class or Bradley instructor, Danielle was an awesome teacher! We learned so much in her class.) We had a lot of fun with their 3 girls and even chased bubbles together in between shots. I love that their personalities really came through in the photos! Here are some of our favorite photos from the evening…

Reflecting on 4 Years

2011-06-13T17:25:00.000-05:00

One month ago today, we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. We had a relaxed day together and even though we were right in the middle of a record setting 2 weeks of rain, the skies cleared, and we had a beautiful day! We took a picnic to one of our favorite Denver parks.

We always exchange cards with handwritten notes in them on special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries and it's one of my favorite parts of celebrating!

Most of the time, I hand make a card for Truman. This anniversary, he decided he was going to use my paper crafting supplies and make a card for me too. I am very thankful for how sweet & thoughtful my husband is. Didn't he do an awesome job!?

After we opened our cards, we played Scrabble and enjoyed some delicious angel food cake with homemade cream cheese icing and fresh strawberries.

Every year on our anniversary, we reflect on that past year of our marriage....our favorite memories, what we learned, how we grew. This anniversary, as we looked back over our 4th year of marriage, we both agreed that it was our favorite year yet. And we are so excited for what year 5 is going to hold as we become a family of 3!

Food For Friday: Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day

2011-05-20T23:01:00.000-05:00

I had read about this book, Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, all over blogland. We love artisan bread, so I loved the idea of making a batch of dough that would last up to 2 weeks in my fridge and could be used to make baguettes, ciabatta, or even pizza. I borrowed the book from the library, purchased an oven thermometer and bin for the dough, and got busy experimenting. I haven't made many of the recipes in the book, but I've had a lot of success with The Master Recipe dough.

We've used the fresh baguettes as a side for pasta and to make meatball sandwiches,

and the pizza dough is delicious!

I would recommend getting the book if you want to try out a lot of the recipes, but I thought I would share The Master Recipe with you, so you can see just how easy it is. (This recipe makes 4 one lb. loaves or pizza crusts, but it can easily be doubled or halved.)

Ingredients:
3 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast (I use Fleichman's bread machine yeast in the glass jar with a yellow label)
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt

6 1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all purpose white flour (scoop the cup to fill, then gently use the back of a knife to "sweep" off the excess; do not pack the flour!)

Directions:
Warm the water slightly until it feels just a little warmer than body temperature. I usually microwave mine.
If you have a stand mixer, attach your dough hook and put the water into the mixing bowl. You can also mix the dough by hand right in the plastic container. (You need a 5 quart resealable, lidded, but not airtight plastic food container.) I like to use my mixer because it can get hard stirring in all the flour.
Add the yeast and salt into the warm water. Mix in, but don't worry if it doesn't all dissolve. Put your bowl onto your mixer if you are using a mixer.
Mix in the flour. Kneading is unnecessary. Add all of the flour at once and mix with a wooden spoon in your plastic container, or mix with a stand mixer on medium using the dough hook. The dough is finished when it is uniformly moist without dry patches. The dough will be wet and loose enough that it forms to the shape of its container. If you used a mixer, dump the dough into your plastic container.
Cover with the lid (again, make sure it's not airtight!) and allow the dough to rise on the counter at room temperature for at least 2 hours, up to 5 hours. Put the dough in the refrigerator to store. The dough will be easier to work with if you refrigerate it overnight before use, which makes it much less sticky.

This master dough can be used for a variety of recipes, including baguettes, ciabatta bread & pizza dough.

Meatball Sandwiches
For the meatball sandwiches, I prepared fresh baguettes, then cut them in half. I spread roasted garlic spaghetti sauce on one half, and laid slices of fresh mozzarella on the other half. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until the sauce is hot and the cheese is melted. Place homemade meatballs along the bottom half of the baguette. If you have some fresh basil on hand, chop it into thin ribbons and lay some on top of your meatballs. Put the top piece of baguette on top to make your sandwich.

BBQ Chicken Pizza
We've used the pizza dough to make several different varieties of pizza, but one of our favorites (that is pictured above) is BBQ Chicken Pizza. Spread the prepared crust (before baking) with BBQ sauce. I like to use Sweet Baby Ray's. Top with chopped or shredded cooked chicken breast. Add slices of fresh mozzarella cheese & thinly sliced red onion. Bake as directed in Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day. When you remove the pizza from the oven, sprinkle chopped cilantro over the top before serving.

You can find a lot of recipes on their website, in addition to the recipes in the book. They have come out with another book, Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, that features a lot of whole grain recipes. I recently purchased the ingredients for some of those recipes and look forward to trying them out as well! Happy Bread Baking!

Gender Reveal Party! It's a....

2011-05-01T12:00:00.002-05:00

This past Thursday, we hosted a little party with some of our close friends to find out if Lilo is a boy or a girl! It was a lot of fun and we are so glad we found out in a fun way with friends & family, rather than at the ultrasound appointment. We had to hold onto the secret for 2 1/2 days between our ultrasound and the party, but it was worth it!

Holding the card I made for the ultrasound tech to write Lilo's gender in, before we went into our ultrasound appointment:

After the appointment, we took the card to Babies R Us. We picked out two outfits, a boy and a girl choice, and took them both to customer service. They opened the card out of sight and wrapped up the right outfit for us to open at our gender reveal party!

I love planning parties, so it was a lot of fun for me to create a festive atmosphere for our party. Everything went with our blue & pink, boy or girl theme.

I thought bite size babycakes were appropriate for the occasion!

We incorporated the Chinese characters for "boy" and "girl" into our table decor.

The package holding our big surprise!

Our families skyped in from Ohio & Texas to join in the celebration and share our big news with us!

All of our friends wore pink or blue to vote for their guess of whether Lilo was a boy or a girl.

After waiting for 2 days, we were dying to know and so excited to rip into that package!

This photo is blurry because we were moving, but the looks of surprise are classic...

It's a....

BOY!!!!

We are going to have a son!

For some reason, after thinking it was a boy our whole pregnancy, after our ultrasound, Tru really thought it was going to be a girl. He was shocked and thrilled that it was a boy! I love this photo of him showing off his son's outfit to our families over skype:

We announced our news to friends and family through e-mail and Facebook with this photo. Bring on the blue!

After months of waiting, it is still a little bit surreal that we know we are having a boy! We are so excited to meet our son!

Food For Friday: Homemade Meatballs

2011-04-29T22:54:00.000-05:00

We combined elements from several different recipes to create our favorite meatball recipe. We love to eat meatballs with fresh pasta and we also really like to make meatball sandwiches with fresh baguette bread. My next Food for Friday post will be a bread dough recipe we have become big fans of and use to make meatball sandwiches. Please, please use fresh mozzarella cheese and grated parmesan (that you grate yourself or purchase already grated in a bag in the shredded cheese section). Do not use that powdery white stuff that they sell as parmesan cheese! The fresh cheese makes such a huge difference and takes the meatballs to a much fresher, tastier level!

Ingredients:
1.5 lbs lean ground beef (we use 94% lean organic)
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
1 egg
1/2 cut Italian breadcrumbs (we use fresh ones that I make in the food processor with some Italian seasoning)
4 cloves minced or pressed garlic
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 cup fresh chopped Italian parsley
1 heaping tsp. kosher salt
fresh ground pepper (a few turns of the grinder)
olive oil
1 jar of roasted garlic pasta sauce (I use Classico)
fresh mozzarella cheese (I usually use the "log" of fresh mozzarella from Costco that comes in a 2 pack)
pasta (we like fresh linguine)

Put all of the ingredients from the lean ground beef down to the fresh ground pepper into a metal or glass bowl and mix well. Form into 1.5 inch balls. (We use a metal cookie dough scoop sometimes to speed up the process and make them more uniform.) Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a deep saute pan over medium heat. Add the meatballs and turn them several times to brown the exterior of the meatballs. (Don't worry about cooking them through at this point. You are just browning the outside to add a "crust.") Pour in the jar of pasta sauce, cover with a lid & simmer on medium to medium low until the meatballs are cooked through, usually 30 to 45 minutes.

Slice the mozzarella cheese and lay over the top of the meatballs and sauce. Cover for a minute or two until the cheese is good and melted. Serve over pasta. Our favorite is to serve it over fresh linguine. If you don't want to make fresh pasta at home, Buitoni fresh pasta in the refrigerated aisle is a great option. If you happen to have fresh basil growing in an herb garden this summer, some thin ribbons of basil sprinkled on top is a delicious addition too!

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-04-26T21:51:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month we celebrated my birthday. I was actually at a Campus Crusade for Christ staff women's conference in the mountains on my birthday, which made it unusual to start with. It quickly became even more unusual when I woke up at 4 am the morning of my birthday with severe chest & arm pain that lasted for 3 hours. After a call to my OBGYN, they wanted me to come in just to check and make sure everything was ok, so I left the conference early to head to the doctor. The baby sounded great, and other than my blood pressure being high, nothing was concerning, so we went home to rest for the evening. (I've since had an appointment with a cardiologist and everything looks fine with my heart, which was great news!) I think my surprise gift was getting to hear Lilo's heartbeat on my birthday!

Because I was supposed to be at the conference, we had planned to celebrate my birthday with a fun dinner date that weekend, so a couple of days later, I got to head downtown with my handsome hubby to enjoy a fun evening out and a delicious dinner! Because we haven't been able to get out much during my pregnancy, it was an extra fun date night!

With beautiful flowers from my hubby before we left for dinner

Opening his sweet card at dinner (which is one of my favorite parts of celebrating any special occasion!)

My handsome date

My birthday dessert as big as my head (peanut butter and chocolate cookie!)

Right before I left for the conference, I got an early birthday package from my mom and it was the BEST surprise! Hydrangea are one of my most favorite flowers, and she sent me two hydrangea plants for our yard. Nearly all of our landscaping beds were completely filled with rocks when we purchased our home, so I am slowly trying to add beautiful flowering plants and I can't wait to cut my first hydrangea blooms to bring into the house.

It is wonderful, but also crazy, to think that next year I will be celebrating as a mom!

Food For Friday: Spinach, Chicken & Cream Cheese Lasagna

2011-04-08T07:00:00.001-05:00

When I think of lasagna, I usually think of a time-consuming, labor intensive process. I was surprised by how quick and easy this lasagna was to assemble. It had a great flavor & smooth texture, and I like that the spinach adds nutrients too! I adapted this recipe from Faithful Provisions with a few changes and additions. It will definitely be added to our regular list of recipes and I think it will freeze well too.

Ingredients:
6 lasagna noodles
1 jar roasted garlic pasta sauce
4 oz. cream cheese (I use lower fat neufatschel cheese)
1 cup chicken broth or stock
2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
1 cup packed fresh baby spinach
2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Put a pot of salted water on to boil for the lasagna noodles. Cook noodles until tender (following the instructions on the box.) Drain.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

While the noodles are cooking, shred your 2 cooked chicken breasts. (If I am making several recipes in a week that call for cubed or shredded cooked chicken, I like to cook a whole pan of chicken at the beginning of the week and put the cooked whole breasts in a container in the fridge. This saves me time later in the week, and cold chicken is easy to shred with your fingers!)

Heat one cup of chicken broth or stock over medium heat. Add the cream cheese and mix until the cream cheese is melted. Using a spoon or a whisk, get out most of the lumps. The sauce will seem very liquidy at this point. Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring often, until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat.

Use an 8x8 or 9x9 glass baking dish & spread enough pasta sauce in the bottom of the pan to make a thick layer to coat the bottom of the dish (so your noodles will not stick.) Lay one layer of cooked lasagna noodles in the dish. (I used kitchen shears to cut my noodles to fit.) Make sure you have a layer of noodles that totally covers the bottom of your dish. Spread 1/2 of the cream cheese sauce over the layer of noodles. Top with a layer of spinach and spoon pasta sauce over the spinach to cover well, using about 1/2 the jar. Sprinkle 1/2 of the shredded chicken on top & sprinkle with a layer of mozzarella cheese (about 1 cup). Add a 2nd layer of noodles and repeat the layering, ending with mozzarella cheese on top. Use the rest of the mozzarella to cover the top well.

Cover with foil and bake 20-25 minutes. Reduce heat to 400 degrees, uncover, and bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is slightly browned and bubbling around the edges. Remove from oven.

Let sit for about 10 minutes to allow the lasagna to firm up before slicing.

This would be a perfect recipe to double and make two of simultaneously....one to eat and one to freeze or drop off to a friend. You could also double the ingredients and use a 13x9 dish if you have a larger family or are entertaining.

Mystery Dinner Date

2011-04-07T00:37:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is April, and yes, I am writing about Valentine's Day! I was beginning to show and thought it was noticeable enough in some of our photos that I didn't want to post about our Valentine's date until after we shared our pregnancy news. I am finally getting around to sharing our night out with you! We had a gift certificate to the Dinner Detectives Murder Mystery Dinner Show and we thought Valentine's Day would be a perfect time to enjoy it!

When we received our table assignment, we smiled at the table number we were assigned to:

I've wanted to go to a murder mystery dinner theater ever since I was in high school, but I've just never actually made it happen, so I was really looking forward to it. Truman really likes figuring out clues and putting pieces of a puzzle together, so it was right up his alley too.

Throughout the evening, scenes unfolded in the dining room and clues were collected and passed to the tables for review.

All of the clues were gathered on a "clue table" for further review as the guests worked to solve the mystery.

My handsome hubby worked hard to figure out whodunnit and he successfully solved the mystery! I, on the other hand, had no idea who the murderer was until he explained his theory to me. Figuring out mysteries, or movie plots for that matter, is not my forte! But I enjoy myself trying.

We had a great time and it was a fun and unusual way to spend a night out together!

A New Addition!

2011-03-18T18:02:00.000-05:00

My blogging has been on the back burner for the past 3 months because I've been busy working on an even sweeter project, the best addition we've ever made to our home....

We are expanding our family by two feet! Meet Baby Lo!

Lilo, our nickname for "Little Lo," will be here in mid-September. We are praising God for the blessing of this sweet life!

You may remember me sharing in past posts that 13 is a special number for our family. Truman was born on December 13. I was born on April 13. We were married on May 13. And Lilo is due on September 13! We'll see if baby Lo carries on the tradition!

Our 1st ultrasound at 7 weeks

I have had a rough first trimester, so my days have been filled with hour upon hour of resting on the couch, naps, Sprite, and watching every show on On Demand and our DVR. My amazing husband has been busy doing all of our grocery shopping, preparing dinner, doing laundry, and cleaning, while I watch from the couch. But, we are so incredibly thankful for this little life and know that this season of sickness is a small price to pay for a lifetime as parents!

Our 1st belly shoot at 13 weeks

Lilo was the size of a peach at 13 weeks

I am 14.5 weeks pregnant and hoping that the 2nd trimester will bring less time on the couch and more time in my craft room! I have a whole stack of fabric waiting to be turned into baby gifts for friends who have welcomed new additions to their families, and ideas for a baby scrapbook for Lilo swimming around in my head. I will continue to share pregnancy news and photos of my growing belly, but I hope to be sharing new craft projects soon too! And of course, I'm sure there will be some nursery photos in the coming months as we prepare for Lilo's arrival!

Food For Friday: French Dip Sandwiches

2011-03-11T19:13:00.002-06:00

Are you ready for one of the easiest crockpot recipes ever? These French Dip Sandwiches are way more delicious than the effort you need to put into them! They have the perfect juicy roast beef flavor and leftovers warm up just as good, if not better, than the first night you make them. My husband and I both love these sandwiches! They are perfect for a busy day when you have just a few minutes to toss something into the crockpot in the morning and just a few minutes to get it on the table at dinner time. Crockpot to table will take you 10 minutes, tops.

Ingredients:
1 beef roast of your choice (I recommend a chuck roast)
1 can beef broth (I use low sodium organic)
2 & 3/4 cups water
5 beef bouillon cubes
1 pkg dry Italian seasoning

1 package bakery sub rolls
1 package of sliced provolone cheese

Cut your roast into 2 or 3 large chunks. Put all of the ingredients from the roast down through the Italian seasoning into your crockpot. There is no need to dissolve the bouillon cubes before adding them. Just throw them into the liquid in the bottom of the crockpot. Cook on low for 8 hours. If your at home, flip the chunks of beef over once or twice during the cooking time. To serve pull out the beef roast and shred into a bowl. Skim any fat off the top of the au jus juice left in the crockpot. Drizzle the shredded roast beef with a little bit of the au jus juice and stir together.

Cut each sub roll in half lengthwise if not presliced. Lay open and top with 2 slices of provolone cheese. Bake in the oven or toaster oven at 350 until bread is warm and cheese is melted. Fill bun with shredded roast beef and serve with a side of the au jus. The au jus is so, so good! I didn't include it in the photograph because au jus just doesn't photograph well. My husband also likes to add a little horseradish sauce to his sandwich.

Note: To store leftovers, I put the shredded roast beef in a separate container from the remaining au jus. After you have refrigerated the au jus, you will be able to skim additional fat off the top. To reheat, put the amount of roast beef in a bowl that you desire, drizzle with some of the au jus, and warm in the microwave until hot. Put a side of au jus in a small bowl and heat that through in the microwave as well.

Food For Friday: Baked Potato Soup

2011-02-25T22:41:00.001-06:00

I have been craving potato soup for weeks and finally put it on the menu for last week. I didn't have a favorite recipe already, so I combed a few websites and browsed for ideas, then created my own version of Baked Potato Soup. It was a success and we'll definitely have to make it once more this winter before "soup weather" is over and spring comes to stay!

Ingredients:
4 large or 5 medium organic potatoes, peeled & cubed
2 tbsp. butter
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
4.5 cups lowfat organic milk
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 + 1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 + 1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (we used triple cheddar with sharp, mild & white cheddar)
1/2 cup organic light sour cream
cooked, crumbled turkey bacon
extra cheddar cheese for garnish
sliced green onions (scallions) for garnish

Scrub and peel the organic potatoes. You can peel roughly leaving some skin on for texture if you'd like. Dice the potatoes into similar sized 1 inch cubes, which will help them to cook evenly. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and boil the cubed potatoes until they are fork tender. Drain them in a colander.

While the potatoes are cooking, chop 1/2 a package of bacon (we used turkey bacon) into small pieces. Saute them over medium heat until crispy, them remove them to a paper towel covered plate. Wash the green onions and chop the dark green ends into thin scallions. Put aside.

Dump the cooked potatoes into a large bowl and mash them until they are mostly smooth but with some chunks left throughout. I use a potato masher, which makes the job easy. You could also remove some chunks with a fork and puree the rest in a blender or food processor.

In the large pot that you cooked the potatoes in, you are going to create a roux to start the soup. Melt the butter in the pot over medium heat and add in a few tablespoons of milk. Slowly add the whole wheat flour and whisk it in to create a thick paste. If it is getting too thick or lumpy, add more milk until it is the right pasty consistency. After all of the flour has been whisked it, slowly begin the whisking in the milk to make a sauce. The trick is to add a little milk at a time, whisking it in and letting it simmer to keep the sauce from getting too thin as you add the milk.

Add in the onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper, and mix well. Reduce heat to medium low. Mix in the cheddar cheese and sour cream until it has melted into the sauce.

Add in the potatoes and stir together until combined. Heat through. You can adjust the consistency now, adding more milk if the soup is too thick, or simmering for longer if you need it to thicken.

Ladle into the serving bowls and top with a handful of shredded cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon & scallions.

Food For Friday: Homemade Butternut Squash Ravioli in Sage Butter Sauce

2011-02-04T23:34:00.000-06:00

Ever since our trip to Italy this past summer, we have been wanting the pasta attachment for our KitchenAid Mixer. We knew within days of arriving in Italy that we wanted to be able to make fresh pasta at home. We even purchased a ravioli press in the medieval city of Sienna in anticipation of making our own homemade ravioli once we returned home.

Once you've had fresh pasta, I promise you will be ruined for dried pasta! It just doesn't even compare. For Christmas, we decided that we would get the pasta attachment as a joint gift to each other. We tried it out for the first time a few weeks ago and the flavors took us back to warm summer nights dining al fresco in Italy. This dish will definitely be a new regular in our dinner rotation!

There are several parts to this recipe: the dough, the filling, and the sauce. The first step is to make the dough so it can rest while you prepare the filling. But before you start the dough, you will want to bake the butternut squash so it is ready when it is time to make the ravioli filling.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice the squash lengthwise and remove the seeds. (I used a melon baller to scoop out the seeds.) Spray a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil or cooking spray. Put the cut side down on the greased baking sheet. Roast the squash in the oven until the flesh is tender when pierced with a fork. For a smaller squash it could take 30-40 minutes. For a larger squash it could take up to an hour.

While the squash is baking, prepare the pasta dough. We used the Kitchenaid Basic Egg Pasta recipe.

Ingredients for the Pasta:
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon water
3 1/2 cups sifted unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Sift the flour. I like to place my measuring cup over a shallow bowl and sift right into it. Place your measured, sifted flour into the bowl of your KitchenAid. Add the eggs, water, and salt into the mixer bowl.

Attach the bowl and the flat beater. Mix at speed 2 for 30 seconds.

Exchange the flat beater for the dough hook. Turn to speed 2 and knead for 2 minutes. Turn off the mixer and remove the dough from the bowl. Place the dough on the counter and knead it by hand for 1-2 minutes. Let it rest for 20 minutes.

*Note: The consistency of the pasta dough is important to successful pasta. Good dough is firm and leathery, but also pliable. It should not stick to your fingers or crumble & fall apart. If your dough feels too dry at this point, you can pat some water onto it and knead it in. You can also knead in a dusting of flour if it is too sticky. To test the consistency, before you rest the dough, pinch a small amount of dough together after you put it on the counter. If the dough stays together without sticking to your fingers, it should work well.

While the dough is resting, it is time to prepare the butternut squash ravioli filling. I used a recipe from the blog 100 Days of Real Food. You can find it here.

Ingredients for Filling:
2 lbs butternut squash
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
Zest of 1 large orange
½ cup mascarpone cheese (if you can’t find mascarpone use cream cheese as an alternative)
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of nutmeg
Kosher salt and freshly found pepper, to taste

Scoop the pulp out of the baked butternut squash into a large mixing bowl and discard the skin. Add all of the other filling ingredients from the butter down to the salt and pepper and stir together thoroughly.

After the dough has rested for 20 minutes and the filling is prepared, return to your pasta dough.

You will need a ravioli press and the Kitchenaid pasta sheet roller attachment (or another pasta roller.)

Divide the ball of dough into 4 pieces.

Flatten each piece with the heel of your hand before feeding it into the pasta roller. Attach the pasta roller to the mixer following the manufacturer's instructions. Set the adjustment knob on the end of the pasta sheet roller to 1 by pulling the knob out and turning it to setting 1, then release the knob. Turn the mixer speed to 2 or 4.

Feed one flattened piece of dough into the rollers.

After it feeds through, fold the dough in half over on it itself, and feed it through the roller again. Repeat the folding and rolling process 2-3 times until the dough is smooth and pliable and covers the width of the roller.

Move the adjustment knob to setting 2. Feed the dough through the rollers to further flatten it. After feeding it through the rollers on setting 2 a couple of times, increase the adjustment knob to setting 3. (Note, you only fold the dough on setting 1. Do not fold the dough on any of the higher settings. Just feed it through the rollers, then feed it through the rollers again.)

Continue to increase the roller adjustment setting, feeding the dough through, until you reach adjustment setting 5.

Dust the counter with flour and lay the thin sheets of pasta dough out on the counter. Repeat with the other 3 balls of dough until you have 4 thin sheets of pasta dough.

I used the ravioli press to gently make impressions on one sheet of dough to help me know where to place my dollops of filling. Be sure not to cut through the dough! You want to barely leave a mark visible to your eye.

Using a teaspoon, spoon dollops of filling into the center of each impression. You do not want to overfill the ravioli or the filling will squeeze out of the seal!

You will need an egg wash to seal the ravioli. Place one egg with a touch of water in a small bowl and whisk together.

Using a pastry brush, paint a small amount of egg wash around each dollop of filling to help the 2 sheets of pasta stick together when you seal the ravioli.

After you have applied the egg wash, lay a 2nd sheet of pasta on top of the sheet with the filling.

You will be able to make out the dollops of filling as bumps underneath the top sheet of pasta. Center the ravioli press around the filling and press down until you cut through both sheets of dough, sealing the ravioli.

Repeat for each ravioli on the sheet.

Using a thin spatula, slide the ravioli off the counter and place on a cookie sheet on a piece of parchment paper while you prepare the rest of the ravioli. Repeat the filling and ravioli cutting with the 3rd and 4th sheets of pasta. You can feed the leftover dough scraps back through the pasta sheet roller following the steps above to make additional sheets of pasta. (When we got near the end of the dough, we switched to the linguini cutter and cut some linguini with the last of the dough to store in the fridge for another night.) We had extra filling leftover, so I stuck it in the freezer to use in the future.

Put a large pot of water on to boil. Add about a teaspoon of Kosher salt into the water as it comes to a boil. Once it is boiling rapidly, add a couple quick pours (maybe 2 tsp) of olive oil into the water before adding the ravioli. This helps the fresh pasta to not stick together as it cooks. Add the ravioli to the water and boil it for about 5 minutes, or until your desired tenderness, stirring it periodically.

While the ravioli are boiling, you can begin melting the butter for the sauce.

Ingredients for the Sage Butter Sauce:
5 tablespoons butter
2 handfuls of fresh sage leaves, torn
White truffle oil (optional)

Add the butter to a sautee pan over medium heat and melt, stirring constantly.

Add in the ripped sage leaves. Stir into the melted butter and simmer until the butter just begins to turn brown and the sage leaves become crispy. Remove from the heat.

Drain the cooked ravioli in a colander. Spoon the ravioli into your serving dishes, then spoon some of the Sage Butter Sauce on top. Spritz with white truffle oil if desired, and top with a little bit of fresh grated parmesan cheese.

Florence is known for white truffles and white truffle oil, and they are plentiful in dishes. I absolutely fell in love with the flavor of white truffles! My best friend sent us some white truffle oil for Christmas and it was the perfect finish for our butternut squash ravioli. That flavor really transported me back to Italy!

This recipe made 60-70 ravioli! Since we were only cooking dinner for the two of us, I froze a whole bag of ravioli for later meals. I layered them between pieces of wax paper in a ziploc freezer bag. You can place the frozen ravioli into the boiling pot of water frozen, they will just need an additional few minutes of cooking if you are making them from frozen.

The many steps in this recipe truly makes it seem more complicated than it really is! It is honestly quite simple, and the taste makes the little bit of extra preparation time well worth it. This dish is just delicious!

We are looking forward to many more date nights of making pasta together and entertaining friends with some of our favorite fresh pasta dishes!

Nursery Canvas Gift

2011-02-01T22:53:00.001-06:00

Yes, I am still here! I had some posts in progress a couple of weeks ago, only to reach my blogger storage limit for uploaded photos! I have had to look into alternatives for storing and uploading photos to my posts. I have a temporary solution for now, but it isn't the easiest process. I am very open to suggestions if you have found a good place to upload your photos that allows you to easily insert them into your blog posts. Please share!

A good friend of mine recently gave birth to her first child. She and her husband wanted the gender to be a surprise, so they didn't know until her arrival that they would parents to a beautiful daughter! My friend has always wanted a neutral nursery that could be passed down from child to child, so they decided to choose calm creams, tans & browns. She lived in Boston briefly and liked The Tortoise & The Hare sculptures in Copley Square, which inspired the new parents to incorporate a few details from The Tortoise & The Hare into their nursery.

As my gift for the baby and parents-to-be, I painted a canvas for the nursery. I chose to paint a silhouette of a rabbit filled with letters and numbers in their colors.

I traced the outline of the rabbit from an image I found online, re-sized it in photoshop with the help of my hubby, printed the image, and cut it out. I used a stencil to trace the letters and numbers, then filled them in by hand with a tiny paintbrush. I was really happy with how it turned out and hope the momma & daddy like it as much as I do. It has already been hung in its new home above their sweet little girl's crib.

Welcome to the world, Baby Meeks!

P.S. Food for Friday will be back this week with one of our favorite recent new recipes for Homemade Butternut Squash Ravioli.

Christmas Memories 2010

2011-01-12T22:38:00.000-06:00

This Christmas, my family came to Colorado to celebrate with us. It was such a blessing to have them here, and after a hard year for our family, it was special for us to be together for Christmas. They spent 4 days on the road driving to be here in Denver for 3 days! It was a long trip for them, but we really appreciated their sacrifice. Here are a few of our Christmas memories:

After going to church for the Christmas Eve Service.

I made our 2nd annual PW's homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning.

My brother created a portmanteau for us on Christmas morning. Ha!

We spent Christmas afternoon at Red Rocks park. The weather was so beautiful we didn't even need coats! We took some family photos. This one was my favorite.

We drove around Downtown Denver to see the Christmas lights. The Denver City & County building was the highlight!

Happy Birthday to my Hubby!

2011-01-11T00:23:00.000-06:00

I took a little unintended break from blogging over the holidays, but I am back and have lots of catching up to do! We have been busy and I have several sewing and craft projects to share as well. I hope to have lots of posts coming up in the next few weeks!

In mid December, we celebrated Truman's birthday with a 2 day celebration!

On his actual birthday, I made him dinner (a favorite pasta dish that he requested) and a birthday cake and we had a quiet, relaxed dinner at home. After he blew out the candles and we enjoyed dessert, he opened some presents. We rented a movie of his choice (Iron Man 2), but I was unsuccessful in staying awake to watch, so I guess that technically he watched it alone. Sorry babe!

The next day we headed up to Vail for a day in the mountains and he got to celebrate with some friends. We started the day off with a breakfast date at Ludwig's, a restaurant in Vail Village that we'd been hearing over and over from friends had an awesome breakfast buffet.

It was delicious, but just as wonderful is the view! There is a sunroom with beautiful views of the snowy stream.

And the coffee is plentiful in their giant mugs!

After breakfast, we headed over to the lift and Tru met up with a group of friends who joined him for a day of snowboarding. Snowboarding is one of his favorite hobbies in Colorado, so it was a perfect way for him to enjoy his birthday with friends!

After snapping a few photos, I read at Starbucks while they hit the slopes.

I hope his birthday was a reminder of how special he is and how much he is loved and appreciated! I am so thankful that he was born!

Merry Christmas From Our Home to Yours!

2010-12-23T18:23:00.000-06:00

Food For Friday: Bacon & Brie Mac 'N Cheese

2010-12-17T22:23:00.000-06:00

Colder weather always puts me in the mood for soups and warm comfort foods. Brie is one of my favorite cheeses, and I recently got a slice of brie on clearance from the grocery store. We were in the mood for mac 'n cheese, so I created a rich and flavorful brie, bacon & rosemary mac 'n cheese. My husband declared it a winner and said it's definitely a dish we should have again!

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. whole wheat flour
1 cup milk (I used 1%)
1/4 cup heavy cream or half & half
8 oz. whole wheat elbow pasta (I used Barilla Plus)
4 slices bacon
6 oz. brie cut into pieces, rind removed (I use a vegetable peeler to shave off the rind)
1 sprig fresh rosemary, chopped finely
10 crackers (I used Toll House)
Salt & Fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the elbows and boil until tender, according the package directions. Drain.

Chop 4 slices of bacon and saute over medium heat until crispy & browned. Drain on a paper towel and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, melt 2 tbsp. butter. Mix in the 2 tbsp. of whole wheat flour until well blended to create a roux. Slowly add the milk, whisking to combine and removing any lumps. Stir in the cream or half & half. Bring the mixture to a boil. Turn heat down to a simmer and add the rosemary and brie, stirring until the cheese melts and the sauce is smooth.

Mix in the cooked & drained elbows, then stir in the bacon.

Preheat the broiler to low. Spray a casserole dish with olive oil or cooking spray. Spread the mac & cheese mixture into the dish. Crush the crackers and sprinkle on the top. Broil on low until golden brown and crispy on top.

It would be a perfect dinner served with a spinach salad and rosemary sea salt rolls.

Now, if this chillier weather would just bring our first big snow!

Unexpected Getaway

2010-12-12T23:36:00.005-06:00

Last week, we were blessed with a very unexpected and last minute getaway to Breckenridge for 3 days. The parents of a student who was involved in the ministry that we work with have a condo timeshare that they were unable to use last week, so they offered us to stay there for a few nights. We were so excited to head up to the mountains for a few days...for free!

We had a wonderful time and it was a much needed and refreshing break for us. We relaxed, read, spent time with the Lord, ate, and enjoyed the hot tub under the stars each night. It is a ski-in ski-out condo, and Truman was able to get a lot of snowboarding in. I took this photo from the balcony of the condo. It was fun watching him snowboard right up to the building and I even headed down to the lodge one day to catch him at the end of some runs. I've never gotten to watch him board before so I enjoyed getting to see him do something he loves.

Breckenridge is a very charming town and it was beautiful all lit-up for Christmas. When we headed to Main Street in the evenings, I loved how festive it felt.

We still haven't had a big snowfall in Denver yet, so it was also fun to be surrounded by snow for a few days. We were so thankful to the Lord for this surprise time away! There is something special and refreshing for the soul about being in the mountains, in the midst of His magnificent creation. 3 days of fun memories!

A Date with Shrek

2010-12-02T20:29:00.000-06:00

This past Sunday, we took advantage of our credit card rewards to treat ourselves to a fun date night in downtown Denver!

We started the evening with dessert at The Cheesecake Factory. We shared the Reeses Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake and it was delicious! And rich! It is one of my new favorites. I never have room for dessert if I eat a meal there, so I love going just for dessert.

After dessert, we saw Shrek The Musical at the Buell Theater. We really enjoyed it! It was humorous and light-hearted and just an all-round fun show.

We are both fans of musicals, so it's a fun thing for us to do together. And I love any reason for my handsome hubby to get a little dressed up! It had been a hard week for us, so a funny musical, laughing together, and eating dessert was a perfect & much needed evening out.

When we came out of the show, snow was falling, and as we walked back to our car, it began coming down even harder. We were pretty covered in snowflakes by the time we got to the car.

It was beautiful, and a fun surprise to come out to snow falling, but sadly, it didn't even look like it had snowed at all 10 minutes away at our house! We are still waiting to wake up to that first big snow of the year. I am thankful to have made fun memories & enjoy a night out with my best friend.

Copycat Starbucks Peppermint Mocha

2010-11-30T01:15:00.000-06:00

It's officially my favorite time of the year....the Christmas season! We decorated the day after Thanksgiving and I'm enjoying the festive white lights every evening. My perfect winter drink is a Starbuck's Peppermint Mocha. But, when I'm cozy at home and it's cold outside, I don't always want to bundle up and head out for coffee. I was excited when I came across a copycat recipe I could make at home, and I was even more excited when I tried it! It's so close the real thing (and a lot less expensive, too!)

You will need to purchase Starbuck's Peppermint Syrup. You can buy a very large bottle of peppermint syrup at Starbucks for $7.99. Just ask at the drive-thru or counter and as long as they have enough bottles in stock, they will sell you one.

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons powdered rich hot cocoa (I use Ghirardelli hot chocolate)
3 tablespoons hot water
1 1/2 tablespoons peppermint syrup (Do not try to substitute mint extract.)
1 serving of espresso (I use our small stovetop Bialetti to prepare the espresso)
1 small mug of warm 1% milk (I just heat it up in the microwave)
Optional:
whipped cream
red sugar crystals

Directions:
Warm the milk in the microwave in a small mug or on the stovetop.
Place hot cocoa powder in the bottom of a large mug. Add the hot water and stir to combine well, dissolve the hot cocoa powder, and make a thick chocolate syrup. Stir in the espresso. Add the warm milk & peppermint syrup and stir together.
If you want to make your drink more festive, add whipped cream & sprinkle with red sugar crystals.
Enjoy!

Food For Friday: Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu

2010-11-06T00:14:00.000-05:00

This recipe for Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu is a lighter, homemade version of a popular dish. It's a perfect warm comfort food for the cooler days of fall and the cold days of winter.

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
shredded Swiss cheese (could also substitute Gruyere)
8-12 thin slices of deli ham
2 tsp. thyme
1/4 cup flour
1 cup bread crumbs (I used homemade bread crumbs that I chopped in the food processor)
1 tsp. olive oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup half & half

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the chicken breasts between two layers of plastic wrap and place on top of a cutting board. Using the flat side of a meat mallet, gently flatten the chicken to 1/4 inch thickness. Be careful not too pound too hard and create tears or holes in the chicken breasts. Remove the top piece of plastic wrap.

Pile a small handful of the shredded Swiss cheese in the middle of each flattened chicken breast. Top with 2-3 slices of deli ham. Leave a 1/2 inch margin on all sides to help seal the roll.

Tuck in the sides of the breast and roll it up from one end to the other,tight like a jelly roll. Squeeze the roll gently to seal. Don't worry if a little bit of the filling peaks out after you roll up the chicken breast.

Prepare the ingredients for the breading. Season the flour with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper and spread out on a plate or in a flat dish. Place the half & half and the eggs in a bowl and beat them together with a fork. (I was out of eggs, so I improvised and used just the half & half. It worked just fine!) In another bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, thyme, kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and olive oil. Line up the ingredients in the order of flour, half & half mixture and breadcrumb mixture.

Roll the chicken in the flour to coat, dip both sides in the egg mixture to coat well, and then roll in the breadcrumb mixture until coated. Place in a glass baking dish coated with nonstick spray. Repeat with the remaining 3 rolled chicken breasts.

Bake for 20-30 minutes until the breading is slightly browned and the chicken is cooked through. (Juices should run clear.)

We served our Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu with roasted organic fingerling potatoes. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil and place potatoes on it. Spray potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and chopped fresh rosemary and/or thyme. (Dried rosemary and thyme work fine as well.) Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned and fork tender.

I adapted the Baked Chicken Cordon Bleu from a recipe posted on My Sweet Savannah.

Weekend to Remember

2010-11-01T01:37:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month, we got away for a weekend in Vail to attend the Weekend to Remember marriage retreat. It is a weekend conference to be encouraged in your marriage, spend some time focusing on your relationship, and relax and connect as a couple. We got engaged in Vail, so we thought it would be the perfect location to return to for a Weekend to Remember getaway.

The conference gets an amazing deal on the Vail Marriott Resort and they have some of the comfiest hotel beds I've ever slept in. I can rarely sleep in hotel beds, but I slept wonderfully in this one!

Vail is beautiful any time of the year, but we got lucky and fall lingered a little longer than usual in the mountains this October. The leaves were brilliant and we enjoyed perfect, warm, sunny afternoons that we took advantage of to wander around Vail Village during our breaks.

On Saturday night, the conference schedules a date night and you have the entire evening off for a fun night together. We decided to return to Kelly Liken, the restaurant we ate at after we got engaged, for a special dinner.

If you happen to be Top Chef fans like we are, you might recognize Kelly Liken from this past season of Top Chef, Washington DC. We asked her husband Rick to send a message back to her in the kitchen and let her know that we had rooted for her on Top Chef. She was sweet enough to come out just before we left to say hi and congratulate us on 3 1/2 years of marriage (even though it was a full house and she was busy in the kitchen.) She even snapped a photo with us.

At the end of our weekend, we returned to the bench where we got engaged almost 4 years ago! It's the first time we've been back since the day we got engaged. Our spot looks different when it isn't covered with snow and ice.

We shared some sweet time reading each other letters reflecting on the last 4 years and the blessings we've experienced in each other and in our marriage. We had a wonderful weekend!

When was the last time you took some intentional time away with your husband or wife? Your marriage is worth the investment! I think it's so important to take time to focus on your marriage and on your spouse, to remember all of the reasons that you love and appreciate each other, and to talk about the ways that you desire to continue to grow in loving each other well through changing seasons of life. The Weekend to Remember marriage getaways are a perfect opportunity to do just that. They offer hundreds of retreats all across the US. If you ever want to getaway with your spouse at a Weekend to Remember, message me and I can even share a discount code with you! The retreats are put on by Family Life, a ministry of the organization that we work for.

Food For Friday: Bruschetta Chicken

2010-10-26T00:59:00.000-05:00

I'm back! With Food for Friday...on Monday. When I plugged in my hard drive last Monday to back up all my photos, I had no idea that it would take an entire week to back-up!

This week's recipe is easy, doesn't require a lot of prep time, and is fresh & delicious! My favorite combination. I have a confession to make. I never ate tomatoes before our vacation in Italy this summer. I would eat tomato sauces, or tiny diced tomatoes if they were cooked in something, but I've never been a fan of raw tomatoes or large pieces of tomato. Maybe it was all the fresh-off-the-vine tomatoes bursting with flavor that we were served in Italy, but I've acquired a taste for tomatoes. You still won't find me eating a salted tomato slice or taking a bite out of one like an apple, but I've expanded my appreciation for tomatoes. I decided to use some of our favorite flavors from Italy to create this dish.

Ingredients:
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (I use organic)
1 ripe medium-sized tomato
bunch of fresh basil
ball of fresh mozzarella cheese
garlic powder
kosher or sea salt
fresh ground black pepper
olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a glass cooking dish with olive oil or nonstick spray. Sprinkle both sides of each chicken breast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder and lay in the dish. Bake for 45 min to 1 hour, until the middles are no longer pink and the juice runs clear.

While the chicken is baking, wash and dice the tomato. Wash and dry the basil leaves, then cut them into thin ribbons. The easiest way to do this is to stack several basil leaves together, roll them up, then slice down the roll, each cut about half a centimeter apart. Slice the mozzarella into 8 slices. You may not need your entire ball of mozzarella.

When the chicken is baked through, remove it from the oven and top with the diced tomato, the basil, and 2 slices of fresh mozzarella on top. Return to the oven until the mozzarella is melted.

I served our Bruschetta Chicken with Garlic and Herb Quinoa Pilaf topped with a little grated fresh parmesan cheese. You can find the quinoa recipe here at Aggie's Kitchen.

Sew Easy Ruffled Camera Strap Tutorial

2010-10-11T01:00:00.000-05:00

I've been eyeing all the super cute camera straps that I've been seeing, so I decided to sew one. I searched online for some tutorials for inspiration, then adapted them to work for my camera strap and the style I had in mind. I photographed the process to share a tutorial with you. I am so happy with how my new strap turned out! I love the extra padding that the interfacing provides. It's extra comfortable on my neck now, and has so much more personality than the plain black standard strap.

Remove the strap from your camera and measure the length & width of your strap. Measure the length from the spot where you want your strap cover to end on each side. I wanted my strap to end in the middle of the leather piece on my strap, so I measured the length from the middle of the leather piece on one side to the middle of the leather piece on the other side.

Supplies:
*Strip of fabric the length of your camera strap +1 inch x double the width of your camera strap +1.5 inches (ex. my strap was 21.5 inches long & 1 inch wide, so my strip of fabric was 22.5 in x 3.5 in)*Piece of interfacing (fusible preferable, but optional) the length of your strap x double the width of your camera strap +1/2 in (ex. my interfacing was 21.5 in x 2.5 in)
*Strip of fabric for the ruffle that is as wide as your interfacing strip x double the length of your strap (ex. my ruffle strip was 2.5 in x 43 in)
*Thread to match or coordinate with your fabric

1. Cut your fabric strips to the lengths specified above. You should have one strip for the actual strap, your interfacing, and one strip for the decorative ruffle. I used a rotary cutter on a self-healing mat and a yardstick to make my long straight cuts on my fabric.

2. Center your interfacing on your strap fabric strip. If you have fusible interfacing, place the fusible side against the wrong side of your fabric and iron to fuse.

3. Fold the 1/2 in flap of fabric over the edge of the interfacing (see above) and press.

4. Stitch a hem along the folded edge about 1/4 inch in.

5. Fold the interfacing in half lengthwise and press to create a crease down the middle. Fold the extra fabric over the edge of the interfacing lengthwise and press. (see below) Put the strap strip to the side.

6. Take your ruffle strip of fabric and fold both long edges of your ruffle strip in approximately 1/4” and press. I use a piece of cardstock, folding the fabric over the edge, to help me press a straight crease.

After you've pressed both edges, it should look like this.

7. Hem both long edges that you just pressed. (see below)

8. Change your stitch length to 5 (a basting stitch) and stitch down the center of the ruffle strip. Do not backstitch at the beginning or end! Leave a couple of inches of thread when you cut off at the end.

9. Lay the ruffle strip with the hemmed edges on the bottom on a flat surface. Grab hold of the bottom thread coming out the end of your basting stitch and pull. Holding that bottom thread taught, bunch and slide the fabric back to create the ruffle. As the ruffle bunches, gently move the fabric back, spreading out the bunches to create the ruffle. (see below) Work from both edges toward the center until the entire strip is bunched/ruffled and is the same length as your strap fabric plus an extra 1/4 in on each end.

10. Fold over the unfinished edge of the ruffle on each end 1/4 in, pin, and hem. Be sure you change your stitch length back to normal!

11. You are going to pin your ruffle onto one side of your strap, not down the center! Using the crease you pressed down the middle as a guide, center the ruffle down one half of the strap, lining up the end of the strap and the end of the ruffle on each end, and pin it on. (see below)

12. Sew one line of stitches down the center of the ruffle, attaching the ruffle to the strap.

13. Following the crease you pressed down the center of the strap, fold the strap in half. Tucking in the raw edges you pressed over the interfacing, pin along the edge. (see below)

14. Edge stitch down the long edge where you pinned, making sure the ruffle stays folded back from the stitching, so it doesn't get caught into the stitches.

You're finished!

Slide the fabric strap cover over your camera strap. Depending on how skinny & firm your strap is (mine is thinner than a DSLR strap), it can be a little bit tricky to feed the strap through the opening. I tied a piece of twine onto the end of my black camera strap, and knotted the other end of the twine tight around a wooden skewer, then fed the skewer through the strap cover, using the twine to pull the black strap through the fabric strap cover.

The tutorials I found for inspiration:
Cluck Cluck Sew
Moda Bake Shop by Megan of Brassy Apple
Crap I've Made

Food For Friday: Homemade Granola

2010-10-08T17:30:00.001-05:00

In my continual quest for us to eat fresh, homemade, and with as few chemical additives as possible, I wanted to get in the habit of making fresh granola for us to have on hand for breakfast. Sure, you can find healthy and delicious granola at your local health food store, but at upwards of $4.00 or $5.00 a lb, I can make our own for pennies on the dollar. My friend TJ made this recipe for our staff team when we were in Austin, and she shared her recipe with me. It's a very simple and easy granola, but with a wholesome sweet flavor and some good crunch from the nuts. It's perfect to sprinkle on yogurt or to toss in a bowl with some fresh fruit and a splash of milk for a quick and easy breakfast.

I have bookmarked a few other granola recipes to try to add in some variety. I hope to find a few other favorites to share in the future!

Ingredients:
4 cups old-fashioned or rolled oats (not quick oats!)
1 1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used Canola Oil)
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 300 F. In a bowl mix the oats, almonds, brown sugar, salt and cinnamon. In a saucepan warm the oil and honey. Whisk in vanilla.

Carefully pour the liquid over the oat mixture. Stir gently with a wooden spoon; finish mixing by hand. Spread granola in a 15x10 inch baking pan.

Bake 40 minutes, stirring carefully every 10 minutes. Transfer granola-filled pan to a rack to cool completely. Stir in raisins or cranberries.

Seal granola in an airtight container or self-sealing plastic bag. Store at room temperature for 1-2 weeks or in the freezer for 3 months.

Makes 7 cups.

Baby Nyla

2010-09-19T21:21:00.002-05:00

On Friday evening, we had the opportunity to take newborn photos of sweet baby Nyla for a friend of ours. She is four weeks old and just precious. We were planning to get some shots of her with her two big sisters, but her oldest sister came down with a fever the day of the shoot, so we are hoping to reschedule soon to get photos with their whole family. This was our first baby shoot, and we had so much fun capturing her little features and all her sweetness!

Food For Friday: Homemade Popcorn

2010-09-17T23:14:00.002-05:00

In recent months, I've been on a homemade popcorn kick. It's one of my favorite snacks, is a healthier alternative to other munchies like potato chips, and it is a whole grain and good source of fiber. With the chemicals used in microwave popcorn having come under scrutiny as "likely carcinogens," a quick and easy batch of homemade popcorn is a tasty and healthier alternative. If I can have a great snack in less than 5 minutes with no added chemicals and know exactly what ingredients I put in, I'd prefer to skip the unneeded chemicals that I can't pronounce! (I don't miss the added fat either!)

You only need a large lidded pan, your stovetop, and three simple ingredients: olive oil, popcorn kernels, and salt. And really, the salt is optional. (I prefer to use yellow popcorn because it pops fuller, but it's a matter of taste preference. You can use white or yellow popcorn.) After experimenting with ratios of oil to popcorn, I've found my perfect combination to be 3 tbls. oil and 1/3 cup popcorn.

Put 3 tbls. olive oil in your 3 quart or larger lidded pan. Add 2-3 popcorn kernels and place the lid on the pan, then turn on the burner to medium heat. Give the oil a shake every minute or so until all the kernels have popped. This lets you know that the oil is hot and ready for the rest of the kernels to be added. Be sure that all 3 of the kernels pop or you risk getting "popped" with hot oil and a flying piece of popcorn if you remove the lid with an unpopped kernel remaining!

After all of your test kernels have popped, pour in 1/3 cup popcorn kernels and quickly replace the lid.

Using oven mitts or potholders, lift and shake the pan side to side every 15 seconds or so, to move the kernels around in the hot oil. It will start popping rapidly. It's important to keep shaking the pan so the kernels don't burn. If you have kids and a spot where they can see but not touch, they would probably enjoy watching it pop!

It usually takes just a few minutes for the popcorn to finish popping. Listen for the popping to slow to several seconds between pops, and when it sounds like most of the kernels have popped, remove the pan from the heat. Let it sit for a minute or two with the lid on, until any final pieces are done popping (since any remaining kernels usually continue to pop for a minute or so after you remove it from the heat.)

This is when I remove the lid, and add a little bit of popcorn salt to the top, give it a little shake, and dump it into a bowl. Then I add a little bit more salt to the top of the bowl to make sure it's evenly salted. It's that fast & easy!

Then grab a movie or your family & friends and enjoy! I think popcorn is a perfect snack for the cooler temperatures of fall, and also a great snack for Saturday football marathons. My hubby takes care of those in our family!

If microwave kettle corn is what you crave, there is one quick addition to this recipe that allows you to have delicious homemade kettle corn! When you add the popcorn kernels to the hot oil after your test kernels have popped, pour in the popcorn, then sprinkle 3 tbls. of sugar on top of the kernels, and replace the lid. Pop as usual. I would recommend measuring the 3 tbls. of suger into a little bowl so you can quickly pour it in with the popcorn and get the lid back on before the first kernels start popping! When the popcorn is finished popping, salt as directed above and immediately pour into a bowl. If you let it sit in the hot pan for too long after it has popped, it will caramelize & burn.

A New Labor Day Tradition?

2010-09-09T01:37:00.006-05:00

Ever since we moved to Denver a year ago, we've been talking about going camping. We both went camping with our families growing up and love being out in nature, but we had yet to go camping together. The leaves have already started to change up in the mountains, and in just weeks, it will be way too cold at night to camp outside (in my book anyway!), so our time was running out for a camping trip this year. With the last days of summer looming, we decided that it was time to make it happen, and we headed out to Buena Vista for a Labor Day camping trip.

We spent 2 nights in the San Isabel National Forest and enjoyed these beautiful views of the Chalk Cliffs and surrounding Rockies.

Since we decided a bit spur of the moment to head to the mountains, and over a holiday weekend, the campground only had available sites for Sunday night, so we went a bit, uh, rustic (for me, not my backpacking-loving husband) on Saturday night and tried out dispersed camping. Dispersed camping = a rock fire ring + no bathrooms and no water, but it was just us and nature, and these beautiful views.

We grilled over the open fire and enjoyed some delicious fajitas for dinner.

The views from our 2nd campsite were even better. And there were toilets (a "luxury" even though they didn't flush). I was a happy camper.

The weather was nearly perfect. We took a short hike to see a waterfall.

We read in the warm sunshine while we listened to the Aspen leaves fluttering in the breeze, talked by the campfire after dark, and ate lots and lots of s'mores.

We played Scrabble in our tent at night by the light of a headlamp.

We had an awesome long weekend and made lots of fun memories on our first camping trip together. We both love being out in nature and the slower pace that comes with camping. Our time was refreshing and relaxing. It felt like we were gone for longer than 2 nights and it was a peaceful, fun little getaway.

As we got in our car to head home, we decided this just might be the new Lo family Labor Day tradition.

Mountain Retreat

2010-09-03T23:54:00.001-05:00

Have I mentioned lately just how very much I adore living in the beautiful state of Colorado? Because I do!

Lately, the trend has been that every time I get home, I get to unpack for a few days, only to re-pack my bags to head off on another trip. This past weekend, we spent a few days up in the mountain town of Silverthorne with our Campus Crusade for Christ staff team for a fall planning retreat. This was the awesome view from the porch of the condo we stayed in:

We are blessed to be just over an hours drive from gorgeous mountain spots and that we get to head to the mountains for our ministry retreats. We spent hours sharing about our lives, dreaming about what God can do in the lives of students on college campuses across Denver, and creating strategic plans for our ministry this semester. We cooked together and laughed over meals. We even squeezed in some late night hot tubbing under the stars.

On Saturday afternoon, our director and his wife planned a few hours of fun & relaxation for us and we took a boat out on Lake Dillon. I grew up boating with my family and absolutely love cruising around a lake. I think it's so peaceful and calming to spend time out on the water....especially with these gorgeous views!

We really appreciate the awesome group of people that we get to serve with. They are a lot of fun, they love well, and they challenge us to walk closer with the Lord. We enjoyed this time to connect as a team after being spread out all over the world this summer, and to get to know our newest teammate better.

And, I'm thankful that my bags get to stay unpacked for the next month! Well, after we get back from our Labor Day camping trip, that is. Photos from more mountain adventures to come...

Blogosphere Blessings

2010-08-27T12:12:00.001-05:00

Last week, I was back in Ohio where I grew up and I had an opportunity to meet one of my blog friends in person. This was the first time I had a chance to meet someone face to face that I know from the blogosphere. And it was wonderful!

I don't even remember how I discovered her blog, but I have been reading Christy's blog for about 2 years, soon after she began blogging. I have always appreciated how real, genuine, sweet and wise she is, and I love the perspectives she shares on her life and the Lord. I have thought on many occasions, "if she lived close by, I would love to have her as a friend in real life and just be able to sit down and grab a cup of coffee with her." When I realized I was going to have a little bit of free time during my visit to Ohio, and that she lives just 45 minutes away from where I grew up, I just knew I had to e-mail her and see if it might work out for us to meet. She invited me to her home for lunch (which included some delicious chocolate brownies and coffee) and we spent the whole afternoon chatting about life, ministry, marriage, and how we've seen God's hand on our lives. We even discovered during our visit that we were born in the same hospital!

Christy was just as warm and thoughtful as I knew her to be from her posts. Her home is beautiful, cozy and inviting, just like her blog. I felt welcome and comfortable from the minute I walked in the door.

If you don't know Christy already, head over to her blog Between Here and Home. I think you'll be so glad you did! And if you ever have a chance to meet a blog friend in real life, take it! It is so fun, and a sweet blessing, that two women who never would have had a chance to meet, were able to do so because of the blog world. God can encourage and bless us in ways that we wouldn't expect and I am thankful that He has blessed me with Christy's friendship through our blogs, even though we live thousands of miles apart.

P.S. There are still more photos coming from our summer adventures in Africa & Italy, but we've had a back-up drive issue that has meant hours and hours and hours of backing up & recovering photos. Thankfully, we didn't lose any photos! I look forward to sharing a few more posts in the coming weeks! And some fun crafty projects too!

BEAM Africa

2010-08-13T17:51:00.001-05:00

Our Campus Crusade for Christ team was blessed to serve with BEAM Africa for 2 weeks in the Nellmapius Township outside of Pretoria, South Africa. More than any thoughts I can share, a photo is worth a thousand words as you look at the faces of the precious children we worked with at BEAM.

Just looking through the images from our time loving on these kids makes my heart ache to be back with them. I miss their sweet spirits, their huge smiles, the sounds of their belly laughter floating across the field, and their deep joy. I miss being greeted by little feet running to our vans each morning, warm bodies jumping into our arms before we could even get out of the car, and shouts of "bye" chasing us down the road until they couldn't keep up any longer, as we drove away each afternoon. We didn't do anything extraordinary to be embraced so extravagantly by these hundreds of little faces. We just loved.

This is my sweet little South African friend, Ofrance. (O-france-ay) She was my buddy and was usually by my side all day every day that she was with us at BEAM. I miss her gentle spirit and her smile that melted my heart. I'll share a story later about how the Lord used this little girl to speak into my life.

Truman loved them as much as they loved him. This picture just makes my heart smile. He's going to be a great dad!

Hours and hours of soccer were played. It's always a favorite, but these were the weeks of the World Cup, so there was a special excitement for all things soccer.

Kids of ALL sizes loved taking turns riding on the shoulders of our US students. "This one, this one" could often be heard as they shouted and pointed to themselves to be sure we knew that they wanted a turn next! No wonder our students were so tired every night!

All of the girls LOVED to play with our hair. They could braid and re-braid for hours. Sometimes, 2 or 3 girls would even share a head if there weren't enough to go around. We ended up with some very creative hairstyles!

At times, my lap was VERY full! It wasn't unusual to have 2 or 3 kids sitting in my lap while another 1 or 2 played with my hair. (That's precious Ofrance again on the left.)

This little one is Norshea. (Nor-shay-uh) She was standing alone crying when we arrived at BEAM our last morning. I picked her up and held her in my arms and she wouldn't let me put her down for the rest of the day until we got in the vans to leave.

Some hugs, care, and attention turned her tears into smiles. And some upside down swinging brought out belly laughs. Seeing that smile all day brought me such joy. I was the one in tears when I had to say goodbye that afternoon.

This was Truman's buddy, Chantel. She sat with him one afternoon and then she wanted to hang out with him all the time. She even brought him a little gift and he gave her a bracelet the day we left.

Even though it was winter, many of the children didn't have shoes. Many of those that did had holes in their shoes.

BEAM does an amazing job of serving a complete meal each day including meat, vegetables and a starch. For many of the children, this might be the only meal they eat that day.

If you saw any of the opening or closing ceremonies for the World Cup, you probably heard the Shakira song "Waka Waka" that was the official anthem of the World Cup. We literally heard it at least once a day (but usually more like 5) for the entire five and a half weeks we were in South Africa. It was a favorite of the kids and little voices were often heard singing "Waka waka, eh eh, Tsamina mina zangalewa, This time for Africa."

It wasn't lost on them that this was a special time for their country. In many ways, they couldn't have been farther removed from the glitz and glamour of the World Cup. Most of them have never stepped foot outside of the township. But somehow they sensed that eyes from all over world were on their country, and they had a pride that welled up within them that they are South African.

In my eyes, I see future leaders. I see the beginnings of men and women who can change their township, their country, their continent. There are so many obstacles working against them. But if love, God's truth, and belief in the people they are and the people they were created to be can win out over the evil that surrounds them, their country will be blessed and changed by their lives. God has a specific purpose for each and every one of them and I am thankful that BEAM Africa exists to help them find it. I pray for God's hand of protection over each of their little lives and for His purpose to ring louder in their hearts than any of the other voices or influences that surround them. I see their joy. I see their gentle spirits. I see their strength. I have hope for their future. It's Time for Africa.

Home Sweet Home!

2010-08-06T22:41:00.001-05:00

We arrived back in the US last night after nearly 8 weeks overseas, 2 continents, 7 cities, and 30+ hours of travel over 2 days. Home sweet home!

We are jet lagging and were ready for bed long before 8:00 pm tonight. We are working hard to make it to at least 9:30 before we crawl into bed. Our bed. Which I missed dearly during our time away.

There is nothing like extended time away, especially in a foreign country (or 2), that makes you appreciate the little things....the little comforts of home and the many conveniences that are just a normal part of a daily existence in "the States." I am thankful to be able to take a hot shower anytime I want, and not worry about running out of hot water. I am thankful that I have piles of laundry because we are blessed with clothes, more clothes than we can wear in a week (or several) in fact. And, I have both a washer and a dryer in our house, which saves me from doing laundry by hand in tubs or spending hours at the local laundromat each week. I am thankful for a kitchen to cook in where I can make our favorite foods....and eat healthy. I am thankful for towels and sheets that are dry and smell fresh instead of damp and musty. I am thankful to sit on our comfy couch and enjoy the quiet stillness. I am sure that there are many other things I will remember to be thankful for as we continue to settle in and get back into our routine.

I am so excited to share photos and stories over the next week or so. I had hoped to post a few updates while we were away, but internet access was slow if it was even available. I promise that I will post photos soon. Very soon.

But first, I hear our bed calling.

P.S. Just so you know that I am not thankful for everything, I can assure you that we are not thankful for the weeds that are nearly as tall as us (literally) in our backyard. Or the ones that took over both our grass and our flower beds.

Babies

2010-07-08T07:05:00.002-05:00

I am behind in posting updates from the last couple of months, but I had to share these precious little blessings with you. I've actually lost track of the total number of friends that have had babies this spring, but one weekend in particular, at the end of April, it was baby time! 3 sweet little ones entered the world within 24 hours of each other! Two of the 3 were born here in town, and I absolutely loved getting to meet them, and of course, hold them.

Truman and I visited Baby Hailey in the hospital. She was so sweet and laid back and let me hold her for at least an hour. She has already grown so much since then, but in those first days of life, she was tiny and absolutely beautiful.

I didn't get a chance to meet baby Kaiden until several weeks later, when he was a month old. He is adorable and his little personality was already beginning to shine through.

It is such a joy to celebrate these new little bundles of joy with our friends! It is sad that we haven't had a chance to meet so many of the other little ones who live far away, but we sure are enjoying loving on these sweet ones that are close by. Soon after we get back in August, some new little faces are scheduled to make their appearances too!

Organization Overhaul: Operation Closet

2010-07-05T01:00:00.003-05:00

If you are anything like me, you love having things organized, with a place for everything and everything in its place. This particular closet was a joke in our home. When we moved in, we just stuck things in there that we knew we would store there, but for months I kept saying, "we really need to organize that closet!" Every time I would attempt to find something in that closet, it took forever to find what I needed, and I often got attacked by falling items. I dreaded opening that door. I was seriously a little giddy when it was finally neat and organized. Even my hubby appreciates being able to find what he is looking for. I wish I remembered to take a before shot so you could see just how awful it really was. But, I was so anxious to get organizing that I totally forgot!

During my mom's last visit, I told her that one of my birthday gifts would be helping me organize this closet! We set off on a mission with measurements of all of the shelves and a list of the items that needed to be organized, to help us pick the right storage items. All of the plastic bins and canvas totes came from Bed, Bath & Beyond, purchased with a combination of their awesome coupons.

I used mini wooden rectangles that came in a pack from Michaels to make the labels, and sprayed them with chalkboard spray paint. I used Chalk Ink Markers (also from Michaels) to write the contents of each bin on the label. For the plastic bins, I used good ole' duck tape to stick the labels on the front of the bin. It has held great! For the canvas bins, I used a piece of 1 inch grosgrain wrapped around the top with a mini clothespin to hold it to the chalkboard label. The grosgrain ribbon came from Dollar Tree and the mini clothespins came from the office supply aisle at Walmart. If I ever want to change the contents of the bins, a damp cloth will wipe off the label.

It felt fantastic to check this task of of my ongoing to-do list. And I still get excited every time I open the closet door. I wonder how many minutes of my life were wasted hunting through this closet pre-organizational overhaul? It only took an afternoon and it was 100% worth the effort. What closet do you need to tackle?

Ironing Pretty

2010-06-27T01:29:00.001-05:00

I love when you are out and about and you find that perfect item, that's even better than what you could have imagined, when you aren't even looking for it. Some people have those discoveries all the time, but for me, they're rare, so it's exciting when they do happen!

I've slowly been working on making our laundry room cozy as I find little things here and there. I painted the walls a beautiful shade of robin's egg blue. During one of my mom's visits, we stopped into TJ Maxx and I found this beautiful ironing board cover in the clearance aisle!

It is exactly the colors I am using in our laundry room and I adore the pattern. (It's hard to capture the true color in photos because there is no natural light in this room.) Our poor ironing board cover was thin and loose and I had been thinking we needed a new one. If I have to iron, I'd much rather do it on a pretty ironing board!

What fun discoveries have you made lately?

The Painted Plate

2010-06-20T07:30:00.001-05:00

The number thirteen is often thought to be unlucky, a bad omen, a number that most people frown upon. Hotels skip the 13th floor. Airplanes don't have a 13th row.

For us though, 13 has become a number for good things. I explained in this post why the number 13 is actually a meaningful number for us. My birthday is April 13th. Truman's is December 13th. We were married on May 13th. We closed on our first home together on November 13th.

For almost a year now, I've had a blank white plate mixed into the photos on the shelves in our dining room. I've been planning to paint a number 13 on it. People have asked if there was significance in the white plate. Not yet. But, I finally got around to painting it. There is now!

I thought I would share a tutorial for how I glazed a permanent 13 onto the plate.

Prepare your glass or ceramic item by wiping it down with rubbing alcohol to make sure it's good & clean. Remove any stickers since you'll be baking it later.

I used this Folk Art Enamels paint. The bottle says "Acrylic Paint for Glass and Ceramics."

First, print out what you would like to paint on your glass or ceramic item. Play around with the size until you get it the way you want. I used the Engravers MT font. Cut around each number or letter leaving just a little white space. If you are using more than one number or letter, I found it easier to cut them into separate pieces so you could space them however you want.

Next, you need to use a pencil and trace the outline of the number or letter on the back of the piece of paper. Holding it up to a window makes this step a LOT easier!

After both are traced, position them where you want to transfer them on the plate and use a piece of scotch tape to secure them in place.

Take your pencil, and scratch with pressure over the outline of the numbers to transfer the pencil outline on the back to the plate or whatever glass/ceramic object you are using.

When you've scratched all of the edges well, carefully peel back the paper, and you will see your pencil outline on the plate.

Now, you will use a paintbrush to fill in your transferred outline with the ceramic paint. Be sure to use a tiny brush and make sure the bristles are smooth and there aren't any errant bristles poking out to the side. If there are, it will be very difficult to get a straight, smooth edge. This is not the time to use your preschooler's water color paintbrush. I promise you will get so frustrated if you try. Find the smallest brush you can! If you think it's too thin, it will probably work perfectly.

After your text is filled in completely, allow the item to air dry for one hour. After an hour, and following the directions on the bottle, place it in the cool oven, then heat the oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes, cool in the oven, then remove.

Your paint will be permanently set! Do not use your painted item in direct contact with food and handwash it or put it on the top rack of the dishwasher.

It's right at home on the shelf and surprisingly, even after almost a year of having a plain white plate displayed, the 13 fits in like it's always been there.

Freebie Fire Pit

2010-06-17T07:30:00.000-05:00

One of my absolute favorite summer treats is s'mores. We also love an evening spent sitting by the fire, relaxing and chatting, or hanging out with friends. Ever since we got married, we've been talking about having a fire pit. After we moved Colorado, we decided it was time to make it happen. The evenings here are cool, even after a hot day, which is the perfect recipe for a fire pit evening.

Our budget has been extremely tight the last few months, so we were on a mission to build a fire pit in our backyard for free. After looking on Craigslist for free materials for a few weeks with no luck, our patience paid off and we scored when our teammate offered us free rocks that he had dug out of his yard when installing a retaining wall. (Thanks, Hullah's!)

We enjoyed our first evening by the fire pit a couple of weeks ago. Complete with delicious fire roasted s'mores! We are looking forward to many more evenings by the fire after we return from our summer travels.

Mmmm....

What do you enjoy in the summer?

Leaving On a Jet Plane

2010-06-15T14:08:00.000-05:00

Our bags are packed, our house is clean (we have houseguests who will be staying in our home while we are away), and in just a few hours, we will be boarding the plane that is going to take us to Italy, and then on to Africa! We are so excited!

Because flights from the US to South Africa typically connect through Europe, we were able to schedule a layover in Italy on our way to South Africa. We are very blessed to have a time of refreshment and relaxation before we kick into high gear and lead 25 college students in serving the people of South Africa. This time will also allow us to break our travel into two 10-12 hour segments, rather than one long flight, and allow my body and health some time to recover from the travel and time to adjust to the time difference before our summer project begins.

(picture borrowed from Adam Go)

Several people have asked if I will be updating my blog during our summer adventures. I hope so! We will have limited and inconsistent internet access, but I hope to post a few updates, (prayerfully with photos!), so you can be a part of what we are experiencing this summer. We believe that God has some huge plans for the next two months! We would love your prayers during our time away, so I will try to post some prayer requests with our updates.

I have scheduled some fun, crafty posts for while I am gone, so if you come back throughout the summer, there will be some creative inspiration, along with some summer updates! I didn't want to leave my readers with an empty blog for 2 months!

Food For Friday is taking a break for the summer, but will be back this fall, with lots of delicious new recipes.

(picture borrowed from Adam Go)

I hope that the next time I sit down to write, I'll have a tan from the Tuscan sun and be enjoying some homemade gelato as I post from Italy!

Countdown to Africa: 5 Days!

2010-06-10T23:52:00.005-05:00

As people around the world are turning their attention to South Africa and tuning into the World Cup, which kicks off in Johannesburg tomorrow, we are literally packing our bags to leave for this beautiful country. Back in November, I announced that we will be spending 6 weeks in Pretoria and Cape Town, South Africa on a mission trip with Campus Crusade for Christ. At the time I wrote the post, our departure seemed so far away, but in exactly 5 days, we will be on a LONG flight, making our way towards Africa!

In the coming weeks, as you see images of South Africa all over the news, remember that there is another story behind the striking beauty of this country and it's people: A story of brokenness, a story of redemption, and a country in need of the Good News of the Gospel. Did you know?

More people die of AIDS in South Africa every year than anywhere else in the world.

20% of the South African population is infected with AIDS.

A South African little girl has a better chance of being raped than she does learning how to read.

For the first part of our trip, we will be working with Beam Africa, a faith-based, South African run development center. Daily, they feed and invest in the lives of 100 orphaned and poor children, including children with AIDS, providing at least one healthy meal (for many the only meal they will eat that day), as well as a safe environment for them to learn and experience needed love and support, from help with their homework to job skills training and clothing.

We will then travel to Cape Town, South Africa where we will be working on 4 college campuses throughout the city. Through initiating spiritual conversations, building relationships with South African college students, and outreaches, our students will take the Good News of Christ to college students in Cape Town. The future leaders of South Africa will come from this generation of college students.

In 2009, 54% of college students who heard the Gospel in South Africa made decisions for Christ! Most students have not yet had the opportunity to hear the Good News, but when they do, they respond.

In the coming weeks, as you hear about South Africa in the news, will you remember to pray for us?

I rarely talk about opportunities to give on my blog, but I also want to mention that we are still in need of additional financial support for this mission trip and are trusting God to provide all of our needed support before we leave on Tuesday! If God is tugging at your heart to be a part of what He has called us to be a part of in South Africa, you can give directly through Campus Crusade for Christ here. All gifts are tax deductible.

P.S. Because we live in a world of sin and I've heard the blog horror stories, I have to say, if you are reading this post and are thinking our home would be a fantastic target to break into while we are away for 2 months, be advised that family members are housesitting for us. Our house will not be empty!

Chalk Art: Gallery in the Streets

2010-06-09T18:06:00.001-05:00

Last Sunday, we spent the afternoon at the Denver Chalk Art Festival on Larimer Square in downtown Denver. More than 200 artists spend hours throughout the weekend creating amazing works of art that turn the streets into a chalk art museum.

There were 3-D creations,

and reproductions of classics.

Vibrant pieces

and whimsical, playful works.

One of the most intriguing creations we discovered was an amazing reflection piece that used distortion through a mirrored tube to turn a stretched ground image into a face.

The personality and style of the artists shone through their work, and there was a little something for everyone.

We had a fun afternoon wandering through the "gallery" and watching the chalk artists at work. As we headed back to our car, we were already wondering what the artists will create next year.

One of the things we love about Denver is that there are always great festivals and events going on around town, and many of them are free! Even better, the beautiful summer weather means you actually want to be outside enjoying those free events. We have a whole list of events around the city on our list of "to-do's" and we are excited to check them off one by one!

Three Sweet Years

2010-06-03T12:53:00.003-05:00

On May 13th, we celebrated three sweet years of marriage and were blessed to get away for a couple of nights to the beautiful mountain town of Steamboat Springs! When we purchased our home last summer, our realtor gave us 2 free nights in her condo as a gift at our closing, and we decided this would be the perfect time to use them.

The view from our condo

We "unplugged" during our stay and enjoyed time to relax without a schedule. As snow fell outside our window, we stayed cozy inside and played games by the fire, read in bed, slept late, and made a delicious brunch.

One of the highlights of our time in Steamboat Springs was our visit to the Strawberry Park Hot Springs. They are natural hot springs tucked into the mountains, surrounded by evergreen trees and mountain views, and are the perfect spot for hours of peaceful relaxation. It is a sometimes treacherous 15 minute drive up a steep mountainside to arrive at the springs, but totally and completely worth it. (Before May 1, you must have chains or 4 wheel drive plus snow tires to drive up, but you can also catch a shuttle from town.) If you ever find yourself in the Steamboat Springs area, you must experience the Strawberry Park Hot Springs. Fabulous.

The pools are fed by the hot springs and soaking in the rock pools is like natural hot tub bliss. The water cools as it moves through the tiered pools, and the bottom pools are cooled further by river water that is added into the pool.

Is this not the face of pure contentment?

We experienced the insanely unpredictable spring mountain weather first hand while we soaked in the hot springs. It was sunny when we arrived. Then it rained. Sleet came next, then hail. The hail hurt a little pelting our bare skin! After the hail, snow began to fall, covering the whole area with a fresh white blanket. Within minutes, the sun came back out, and it cycled through every one again. We didn't mind as we were nice and warm & relaxed, floating in the hot springs. By the time we were ready to head back, it was snowing hard!

We made homemade pizza together for dinner, listened to jazz, watch the snow fall outside our window, and reflected on this past year of marriage and our hopes for the coming year.

We had brunch beside a creek on the patio of a cute local cafe, before wandering around the shops of the little downtown. It was a beautiful morning, sunny and warm, with no hint of the inches of snow that fell overnight just hours before.

I had to capture this sign on the door of one of the shops...

Only in the mountain towns do you have a "powder clause" in your hours of operation!

After a pleasant short-sleeves afternoon in downtown Steamboat Springs, we headed back to Denver. Believe it or not, on May 13th, we drove through a crazy snowstorm with visibility so bad we could barely see 10 feet in front of our car! I was praying like crazy the whole drive home!

After a sigh of relief when we arrived home safely, we kept our annual tradition of watching our wedding DVD on our anniversary. We feasted on fruit & baked brie, remembered the joy and love of our wedding day, and were reminded of the vows we made to each other 3 years ago. This is a sweet tradition that we began on our first anniversary and that we plan to keep for years and years to come.

I baked us a delicious chocolate chocolate replica of the top tier of our wedding cake, which was a sweet ending to a fun anniversary getaway. We were so thankful to have the opportunity to enjoy a few days of R&R as we celebrated our life together!

Food For Friday: Fresh Squeezed Lemonade

2010-05-28T23:06:00.039-05:00

Summer has arrived in Colorado and put me in the mood for fresh squeezed lemonade. We've enjoyed many evenings lately sipping this ice cold treat on the back patio, surrounded by the sweet scent of lilacs drifting in on the summer breeze. I think this recipe from Paula Deen has just the right amount of sugar, making it sweet, but leaving a hint of tartness and plenty of lemony goodness. I thought it was the perfect recipe to share with you this holiday weekend!

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup hot water
1 cup fresh lemon juice (5 lemons)
7 cups cold water

In a pitcher, place sugar & hot water, and stir until sugar dissolves. Add lemon juice and cold water. Stir until mixed well. Add a handful of ice and refrigerate until chilled. Toss in a few lemon slices and stir before serving. Enjoy!

Food For Friday: Amber's Original Spinach, Bacon & Chicken Mac & Cheese

2010-05-08T01:30:00.001-05:00

We have been in the mood for decadent mac & cheese ever since our visit to S'Mac in NYC. Especially my husband. We joke that in our house, food is a 6th love language. I have a great recipe for a simple mac & cheese that is a perfect BBQ side dish, but we were craving something richer, heartier, and main dish worthy.
I set out to create my own original homemade macaroni & cheese recipe, inspired by the delicious dishes we had at S'Mac. We were quite happy with the flavorful and creamy result!

Ingredients:
3 cups uncooked whole wheat bowtie pasta (I used Barilla Plus Farfalle)
large handful fresh baby spinach
2-3 chicken breasts, chopped
4-5 slices bacon, chopped (you can substitute turkey bacon)
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons whole wheat flour (can also use all purpose, but I like the added nutty flavor of whole wheat)
3 cups milk
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3/4 teaspoon paprika
Sea salt
Fresh ground pepper
2 cups sharp shredded cheddar (separated)
1 cup shredded fresh parmesan
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I used homemade)

Boil a pot of salted water and add uncooked pasta. Boil for 10 minutes or until tender. Add spinach and boil for an additional 2 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, chop chicken breasts into bite size pieces. Spray a deep skillet with olive oil and saute chicken over medium heat until lightly browned and cooked through. Set aside in a bowl. Add the chopped bacon to the skillet and saute until brown & crispy. Drain grease and put bacon on a couple of paper towels to soak up the rest of the grease. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add chopped onion to the skillet and saute for about 2 minutes. Add butter and stir until melted, then saute onions in the butter for an additional 2 minutes or until onions are tender. Add the whole wheat flour and whisk until fully mixed into the onions and butter. Stir for about 1 minute, then slowly add the milk, whisking constantly over medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat. Whisk in the cayenne pepper, paprika and salt and pepper. (I used a sea salt and pepper grinder and used about 3 turns of each.) Add 1 1/2 cups of sharp shredded cheddar and 1 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese and whisk until melted and well blended. Mix in the chicken breast and bacon pieces, then add the cooked pasta and spinach. Mix well until thoroughly coated.

Coat a large casserole dish with olive oil or cooking spray, and put pasta mixture into the dish. Sprinkle remaining shredded cheddar on top, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Cover and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for an additional 5-7 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and the breadcrumbs are lightly browned.

A Sister Visit!

2010-05-06T23:30:00.000-05:00

Last week, Truman's sister, Carita, flew in from Texas to visit us for a long weekend! There were lots of late night talks catching up on life and time spent hanging out around the dinner table, but we also visited a few fun areas around the city.

After church on Sunday, we had a delicious brunch at the Coral Room in Highlands Square, and checked out a few of the shops around this charming, historic area.

We enjoyed a beautiful afternoon at Cherry Creek and had gelato on the sunny cafe patio. Spring was in bloom, even in the city.

Carita surprised Truman with a mold to make Spam Musubi, a popular snack in Hawaii that they enjoyed often during two summers they spent with students on mission trips in Hawaii. After a stop at the Asian market down the street for ingredients, she taught him how to make Spam Musubi, so now he has to the needed supplies and skills to make it at home.

(For those of you who are wondering, Spam Musubi is made of sushi rice, teriyaki grilled Spam, and seasonings wrapped in seaweed sheets.)

Before Carita flew back to Austin, we had brunch at one of our favorite Denver breakfast spots, retro inspired Snooze.

We had a lot of fun having Carita in Denver and enjoyed that she had a chance to get a glimpse of our life and home here. Thanks for coming to visit us, Carita! We hope you come back sooner than later!

Food For Friday: Homemade Bread Machine Wheat Buns

2010-04-30T00:06:00.003-05:00

I came across this recipe for whole wheat buns here on Mom Advice and added them to my list of recipes to try. I have shared in recent posts how I am trying to make more and more of our staples, partially so I know exactly what chemicals aren't in them, and I've brought my bread maker out of semi-retirement in the process.

We used these buns for the Chicken Parmesan Burgers I posted last week. This recipe seemed easy and looked delicious and I've made the homemade buns twice now. They are indeed both easy and delicious, and well worth the little bit of extra effort in my opinion. They are lightly browned & toasted on the outside, but nice and soft on the inside, and not at all doughy....a perfect consistency. They don't have a heavy wheat flavor and aren't dense, but the wheat flour does add a little extra flavor. They make your house smell divine while they are baking. The dough only takes a little over 2 hours in the breadmaker, so you can make them start to finish in less than 3 1/2 hours. The ingredient list is simple and all of the items are things I already keep on hand. Even if I don't decide until the afternoon that we want to grill out, they can still be warm & fresh for dinner. They are now a staple in our house, especially during spring and summer grilling season!

The recipe says you can make both hotdog and hamburger buns, but I have not perfected the hotdog buns. They seem trickier to me to get the shape right, and they want to break into 2 pieces when I slice them to put the hotdog or brat in. The hamburger buns are no-fail though!

Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening (can substitute with canola oil instead)
1/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons yeast (I use Fleischmann's Bread Machine Yeast)

Directions:
Place all ingredients in bread machine pan, select Dough setting, Wheat setting, Large loaf setting, and press start. When dough is ready, the machine will beep. Preheat oven to 150 degrees, then turn off. Remove bread pan, and turn out dough onto a floured countertop.

Gently roll and shape the dough into a 12-inch rope. With a sharp knife, divide dough into 8 pieces for hamburger buns or 12 pieces for hot dog buns. (For my last batch, I divided the dough in half and used half for 5 hamburger buns and half for 6 hot dog buns.) I scored the dough to get the pieces even, then slid a cutting board under the dough to cut them.

Grease a baking sheet or use a Silpat mat like I did. Roll pieces of dough into balls and flatten for hamburger buns or shape into 6-inch rolls for hot dog buns. Place on prepared baking sheet.

Cover with a towel and let rise in warm oven 10 to 15 minutes until almost doubled. Remove from oven and preheat oven to 400° degrees. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool on racks.

When ready to use, split buns horizontally with a serrated knife.

*Extras will keep for several days in a Ziploc bag. These will also keep in a Ziploc Freezer bag in the freezer for 3 to 4 weeks.

Bar Stool Toile

2010-04-27T23:32:00.000-05:00

Our house has 2 large kitchen peninsulas, and one of them has an overhang counter made for bar stools. I really liked this feature and envisioned menu planning while dinner cooks, friends hanging out while I'm in the kitchen, and someday, kids drawing or doing homework at that counter while I make dinner. Our previous home didn't have a spot for bar stools, so when we moved to this home, I started scouring Craigslist for two affordable additions to our kitchen. After several months of hunting, I came across this set for a good price:

I was drawn in by the shape and the black wood, but the fabric absolutely did not go with our decor. I decided to give them a makeover with some cream and black toile. I pulled out a screwdriver to pry out the staples that were holding the fabric in place and used our staple gun to attach the new print. Here they are after:

I think they look great in their new home and am so happy with how they turned out. I added a piece of 2 inch high density foam to each seat before recovering them, which added a lot of extra cushion. I traced the wooden seat base onto the foam and then used an electric knife to cut it out. It glides easily through the foam making a smooth cut. They are extra comfortable now and a great spot to work or hang out in the kitchen!

Food For Friday: Chicken Parmesan Burgers

2010-04-23T02:00:00.001-05:00

I am always on the lookout for fresh and healthy, delicious recipes to try for dinner. One ingredient that I haven't used much in my cooking but wanted to try was ground chicken. What meats do I use in my cooking? Ground beef, yes. Ground turkey, sometimes. Chicken breasts, definitely. But, ground chicken? I can't think of a recipe I've made using this low fat ground alternative. When I saw this recipe, I knew it had to be added to my binder of priority recipes to try.

On one of the beautiful nights we had while my mom was visiting, we made these Chicken Parmesan Burgers on the grill and they were excellent! They had a great texture, fresh Italian flavor, and were easy to prepare. I would definitely recommend grilling the burgers, though in cold weather, I will try broiling them instead. We really enjoyed the added grilled flavor. We served them on homemade whole wheat buns, which I promise to share the recipe for on an upcoming Food For Friday because they were perfectly soft, light, and delicious...and oh so easy! Baked sweet potato fries were the perfect side.

Ingredients:

For the burgers:
1 lb. ground chicken
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
2 tsp. Italian seasoning
3 tbsp. chopped flat leaf Italian parsley
2 cloves garlic, pressed
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

For serving:
Pasta sauce
Sliced Mozzarella or Provolone cheese
Sautéed mushrooms (optional)
4 hamburger buns

In a medium bowl combine all of the ingredients for the burgers. Mix well until thoroughly combined. Wrap ball of seasoned meat in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to allow the flavors to mingle. Form the mixture into 4 patties.

Preheat the grill to medium heat. Grill the burgers for approximately 6 minutes on one side, then flip and grill for 4-6 more minutes on the other side until fully browned and cooked through. Check the internal temperature of the burger with a meat or grilling thermometer to make sure that the center is done. It is important to fully cook ground chicken through to prevent food borne illness. (Alternatively, cook the burgers under your oven broiler. Spray the broiler pan with cooking spray. )

When the burgers are almost done, add a generous layer of pasta sauce to each bun. Bake at 350 until buns are lightly browned and sauce is hot. Saute the mushrooms while the buns heat if you want to add mushrooms. Add the chicken burgers to each bun, top with a slice of cheese, and add the sautéed mushrooms if desired, before adding the top bun.

These burgers are definitely going to be added to the regular rotation at our house, especially during grilling season!

Spring in Bloom: Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-22T20:00:00.002-05:00

Happy Earth Day!

One of the fun surprises of the first spring in a new home is what pops up in the yard that you didn't know was there! In the last week, three trees in our backyard that I didn't know were flowering trees, have begun bursting with absolutely beautiful pink spring buds.

After a spring shower this afternoon, I wanted to capture our yard in bloom against the bright blue sky that came after the rain. I thought they were the perfect to share in celebration of Earth Day today, and the beautiful creation the Lord blessed us with!

I also adore these grape hyacinths that have popped up beneath the flowering tree. There are more buds and more things getting ready to bloom, and I am excited to see what other spring surprises our yard has in store.

I have also decided that I am going to add a new regular feature to my blog. Earth Day seems like the perfect day to announce Live Green Tuesdays! Each week, I am going to post a quick tip of easy ways to live greener and healthier. An eco-friendly life doesn't have to be difficult or expensive (in face, it can help you save money!) I hope that these tips and tricks will help you to make choices, without a lot of hassle, that will protect the beautiful earth that God has entrusted to us and help to keep it beautiful for years to come...so our children and grandchildren can enjoy it too. We've been trying to make greener, healthier choices in our home, and I'd love to share some ideas I've found with you.

Watch for the first tip on Tuesday!

And coming tomorrow on Food for Friday, Chicken Parmesan Burgers...

Birthday Treasures

2010-04-21T17:22:00.000-05:00

In my last post, I mentioned that part of my birthday was spent visiting some local antique shops that I had been wanting to check out. The first stop was a bust, but at one antique mall, I found two of the items I have been keeping an eye out for for a long time! I was excited to find 2 treasures to commemorate my 30th birthday.

I have been looking for a brown and cream transferware salad plate in a toile pattern for over a year. I wanted a small, pretty plate for my nightstand to corral my jewelry and hair pins at night. The colors of this vintage plate are perfect in our bedroom and it was only $3.50! It has a small chip, but I think that adds to the vintage character. I love it in it's new home.

I have also been wanting a vintage scale for my kitchen counter. I found two, but decided on this white 1950's version.

I am still trying to decide how to incorporate it into my kitchen, and what to display on top, so if you have any inspiration photos or ideas, I would love to hear your thoughts! Do you have a vintage scale? If you have photos on your blog of how you've used it in your home, or have bookmarked photos that caught your eye on other blogs, leave me a link to the post in my comments. I'll let you know when my scale finds its home in my kitchen.