Domestic diva

Thursday night I decided to make a salad with our stir fry. You know, being the healthy housewife and all. So I decided to get a little creative, and try to find a recipe I had had recently. At Andy's birthday party, our pastor's wife had brought this salad that was INCREDIBLE. It became my most favorite thing at the party--and I ate my weight in it. So I set out to try to find the recipe for the dressing....

In retrospect, I could have probably just grabbed my phone, scanned down to her name and pressed send. But that would have been too easy.

So I found the salad. And I made it. And it was just as good as I remember it.

So here's the recipe:
Salad:
1 head lettuce (I used romaine mixed with some mesclun in our garden)
Bacon (I used real bacon bits....I don't really like cooking raw bacon...it's too messy and gross)
Green onions (I used three...it was kind of a lot. Two may have been better)
Chow mein noodles on top, for crunch

Dressing
8T vinegar (I used white wine)
8T sugar
1 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 c. oil (I used vegetable)

Mix all ingredients, bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat for two minutes. Your house will smell like death after you boil vinegar. Hope that your husband doesn't come home an hour early just as you finish making the house smell like death. It might make him fussy. Refrigerate four hours to overnight. Dress salad with dressing just before serving. And enjoy!

We weren't alone for dinner that night. On Thursday's Andy's little brother from the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program comes over. His 16th birthday was the very next day, and I wanted to make sure that it was special somehow. I really want everyone who comes into our house to feel special--and especially on their birthday! I love birthdays...and I love making people feel special on their birthday. So when the boys went off to play a game, I headed back to the kitchen to find something to make into a birthday treat. I found a sheet of frozen puff pastry and a bag of frozen peaches...and ran with it.

I thawed the puff pastry (in the microwave....not the way you're supposed to. I didn't have 40 mins) and cut it into 9 squares...then baked it according to directions.

While the puff pastry was baking, I put the peaches in a saucepan with a little bit of water, a few tablespoons of sugar, and a quick shake of cinnamon (great measurements, I know)

Then I boiled that together until the peaches were warm and soft, and the other stuff had turned into a syrup.

Then I pulled out the puff pastry, topped it with peaches and syrup and served it with a candle. A birthday pastry, if you will. And it was tasty. If only we had spray whipped cream....it would have been perfect.

Am I really living?

I feel like I have been more than outspoken about my dislike for the town we live in. Every day, it seems, there is something that makes me wish we could just move away, and wipe the dust of this place off of our feet. In fact, I say it. Sort of often. I'll be hanging out with people, and say something like, "Well...when we move away." Some of my dislike is valid....like the lack of fellowship with people in our current life situation, some of it not so much....I hate having to drive an hour to go to a Target. And don't get me started on the way people drive in this town--I have never in my life seen anything so ridiculous.

But these past few weeks, things haven't been terrible. They haven't been great, but they haven't been terrible. I have been spending some time with some ladies at our church, and I feel like I'm finally starting to develop some real friendships in this town. I have a job this fall. This is where my husband and I bought our first house, and started our lives as a family. And I realize that my attitude is a lot of the problem.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells the disciples, "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matthew 6:34)

In its context, Jesus is telling the disciples not to be concerned with the things of world--with clothing, food, shelter, etc.

In the past, I have looked at this verse in light of my anxiety problems (that's another story, entirely). I saw it as an admonishment against the things I was anxious about....the what ifs in life. But then I took the time to look up the definition of the word "worry" in the original Greek and this is what I found.

Worry-Merimnao
to be anxious
to be troubled with cares
to care for, look out for (a thing)
to seek to promote one's interests
caring or providing for

Do you see that one of the definition's for worry is "to seek to promote one's interests"? Ouch. Is my daily worry about leaving this town (will it happen? when will it happen? why hasn't it happened?) seeking to promote my own interest? You had better believe it. Am I trusting God when my attitude about the life he has given me is so poor? No. Not at all. I have not been serving God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I have been waiting. Waiting for the life I want, instead of the life I have. I have been wasting opportunities, and wasting time.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible says this about this chapter:

The conclusion of the whole matter is, that it is the will and command of the Lord Jesus, that by daily prayers we may get strength to bear us up under our daily troubles, and to arm us against the temptations that attend them, and then let none of these things move us. Happy are those who take the Lord for their God, and make full proof of it by trusting themselves wholly to his wise disposal. Let thy Spirit convince us of sin in the want of this disposition, and take away the worldliness of our hearts.

So that is my prayer for today. That I may make full proof that the Lord is my God by trusting myself wholly to His wise disposal.

It's time to start living the life I have been given.

VBS Gold

Andy and I are leading the four year old class at VBS this week. It's been interesting. Very interesting. We only have seven students, which is unheard of. Most of the other classes have about 20. I'm really glad we don't have 20. We have four girls, and three boys. And I'll let you in on a little secret--I love our little girls. They are very quiet, and very sweet, and just absolutely adorable. Our little boys are sort of the opposite--except they are still adorable, the little stinkers.

One in particular has proven to be a handful. We had actually met him before--last year during Upwards soccer, he was on the team our team practiced against. His favorite thing to do was knock everyone over. He's been less violent at VBS, but seriously, the things he says have been fodder for laughter throughout our house.

I'll share with you my favorite.

One of the grown up leaders was trying to help the kids remember the word "catastrophe" so she said, "Cat-a"

And he shouted, "CATA-STRATION"

Here's to hoping he lives on a farm.

Sweet Summertime

*******Sorry about the formatting....I promise I put spaces between the paragraphs....but they won't appear right now************
These past few days have been sort of boring. I've spent a lot of my time here (yes, that is the living room floor):

Working on this:

But seriously...how cute is that binder? Did your English teacher's lesson plans come in a sweet green binder? I have a whopping six days fully planned (we start school on a Friday) and the next nine almost fully planned. Clearly, this is going to be my first year teaching. Real teachers probably haven't started looking at stuff yet--they are still recovering from last year!

Anyway, in an effort to keep things a little interesting around here, I think I'd share some of my favorite recipes for summer cooking. First, I have to say that the word cooking is used lightly here. I prefer not to turn the oven on when it's hot outside. I had it on for something a few weeks ago, and it raised the temperature of the whole house by two degrees. Or at least that's what the thermostat said. I would be perfectly content eating frosting from the jar and some fruit or salad all summer long. That other person that lives here tends to disagree. So we compromise.

Our meal plan for the week looks something like this:

Sunday: Grilled chicken (marinaded in a Lawry's 30 min. marinade or Italian salad dressing)

Vegetable of some sort (Broccoli or green beans)

Monday: Fish (Grilled in foil, with lemon, salt, pepper)

Instant brown rice

Tuesday:Pork chops with pizzaiola sauce (grilled pork chops, sauce is onion and garlic sauteed in olive oil, a pinch of red pepper flakes, can of diced tomatoes added and cooked together)

Wednesday: Something easy....last night it was a frittata with turkey bacon, green onion, and eggs

Thursday: Chicken stir fry--chicken cooked in Italian salad dressing, tossed with frozen stir fry vegetables and soy sauce, on top of brown rice

Friday: Hamburgers made with Williams-Sonoma hamburger seasoning on the grill, some sort of grilled vegetable (I like zucchini the best)

Saturday: Whatever I can throw together with what's left in the kitchen

Did I mention that Andy does the grilling? And that I hate cleaning up the kitchen? On nights when we don't use the grill, sometimes we use the crockpot too. Anything to avoid heating up the kitchen.

And any night of the week, we like to end with an iced vanilla coffee.

I usually just use leftover cold coffee from the morning...or if there's none, I just make a new pot and cool it. Then I pour the coffee into a glass with ice cubes. I fill the glass about halfway with coffee. Then I pour a few glugs of vanilla syrup in. I have been using this:

Which I picked up at World Market the last time I was at my parents house. But it's almost gone and I don't really like the brands they sell in town....so I'm going to make my own based on a recipe I found the other day (make a simple syrup: boil one cup water, one cup sugar, add 2 t. vanilla extract). Then I fill the cup the rest of the way up with milk, stir and enjoy.

Coffee Buzz

It's really much later than I should be up. I would have liked to have been in bed asleep a long time ago. But, for only I think the second time in our marriage, I have outlasted my husband. But I blame him for my awake state. He's the one that convinced me to make the second iced vanilla coffee at 10:00. What a bad idea. So here I am....I'll give you a rundown of my day :)

--This morning I decided to commit to working out and eating well in order to regain my wedding weight. Sweet Husband has agreed to help me in whatever way possible. Up to and including changing our eating habits together and exercising together each night

--I have also been on a serious redecorating kick. On a serious budget. But things are starting to come together. I'll post more pictures sometime soon. I'm having a lot of fun turning this house into our home this summer. Today I painted a canvas for the bathroom, pimped our shower curtain, directed the hanging of some shelves in the living room, and directed the hanging of some darling crosses I found at Hobby Lobby last week.

--I spent some serious quality time in Psalms and Proverbs today. Some of my favorites:

He who heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray. Proverbs 10:17

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10

--I discovered that all of my usual household items have increased in cost. My conditioner went up 60 cents since I bought it like 6 weeks ago.

--I made a completely unburned dinner tonight--pork roast and corn. Andy asked me to give him my best "Next Food Network Star" rundown of the meal. It went like this: "The corn has been perfectly reheated for exactly three minutes in the microwave as it is leftover from last Wednesday's meal. The pork roast has been prepared to perfection using the recipe in Robin Miller's Quick Fix meals. And you are going to love scraping the glaze off the pan when you do dishes tonight."

--Tonight was our first night of VBS. We have a four year old class, but Andy didn't make it tonight (he's still not feeling 100 percent). They are the quietest four-year-olds I have ever seen. I feel like that will change before the week is over. One of the girls has already stolen my heart. She is just as precious as can be. She was having a difficult time drawing some of her pictures, so I "helped" her by putting my hand over hers and drawing with her. After that, she kept looking up at me and asking, "Miss Ashley, can we draw this one together?"

--I am starting to open up about things to different people here. Some of it big deal stuff, like talking about things that are uncomfortable but need to be out in the light. Some of it not a big deal.....like actually turning down things like hot dogs and ice cream because they make me sick. I'm too much of a people pleaser. If someone offers me something, I'll take it, even if it means I'll be sick to my stomach or have a terrible headache later. And that's insane.

--Then I came home and had the most wonderful time with my dear husband. We have been talking through a lot of things lately, and I just feel completely overwhelmed by how much I love him right now. I shared with him the recipe I made up for iced vanilla coffee last week (so much better than McDonalds....and cheaper too) and we ended up on the sofa, watching CSI reruns, drinking iced coffees and chatting about everything under the sun.

--Then, Andy went to bed and I started looking online for fun events that the two of us could do together in the upcoming months. Sometimes we just fall too into a routine and never do anything together....and we need to work on that. So I came up with some great ideas, ranging from the Free Contemporary Christian Day at the Indiana State Fair, to Music in the Park here in our town to Louisville's free Shakespeare in the Park series and minor league baseball games.

And that's the end of this very long, very not so inspired but very fueled by exhaustion and caffeine post :)

Oh my dear hair

This weekend has been a thrilling one. For sure. From teaching the world's worst Sunday school class today.....I had three students who sat and stared at me. One fell asleep. The other three just didn't talk....good times in the jr. high...some weeks are better than others--to the children's pastor jokingly threatening me if I come down with Andy's illness (it's VBS week...and we're in charge of 4-5 year olds) to burning dinner. That about sums up my day. Just kidding....it really was an all right day. I spent most of it asleep. I feel like my head hasn't been tied on straight here lately. Hence the burning dinner. It's only like the second or third time I've done it since we've been married, and it's always really frustrating. I think it's my pride kicking in. Like I think I'm above burning things. My mom set off the smoke detector at least once a week through most of my childhood, and I guess I just strive to do better (not that my mom was a bad cook...she's not). Here it is:

The bottom was completely black and inedible. But the rest wasn't too bad. Andy said, "Hey I bet if this wasn't--I mean, this is pretty good, I'll bet it would be even better if it wasn't...if it wasn't burned."

Anyway, at least it's not as bad as the time I set a loaf of bread on fire at the Purdue apartment. I put it under the broiler and forgot about it. I also lit a trash can on fire in that apartment. I still have it. And it still bears the marks of being burned. Good times. Really, they were. They provided some serious roommate bonding and laughter.

Other than that, I've been watching the slideshow video that Andy made to be played at our wedding last year. At first, it was purely sentimental. Then, it was about looking at each and every picture and enjoying it. Since then, it's evolved into checking out my hair, and realizing it's always been difficult. I have difficult hair. It's ridiculously thick and really coarse and just generally doesn't do what I want it too. The left half is more difficult than the right--it's even a slightly different texture. Oh...and now I have a bald spot that's growing out from when my hair got sucked up into a vacuum and ripped out...so there's a spot that sticks up a little in the back. My dear husband just told me I'm too dramatic. Whatever..he gave me the bald spot.

This has become like my own little confessional blog post--burning, bald spots, and bad hair. Good times. Anyway....I'm going to post the video--let's end on a happy note. And check out that hair :)

Book recommendation

Andy is sick today. So we're taking the day off. I've done some picking up, and some laundry, and he's mostly slept on the couch. Poor guy. He's been sick for a few days, but he wouldn't stay home from work, and now he's beat. So I've spent my day reading--this months Better Homes and Gardens, some of 2 Kings and Psalms, and Unspoken by Francine Rivers.

The last book is a part of the Lineage of Grace series by Francine Rivers. The series follows the five women who are a part of Jesus's family line--Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, and Mary. I have read all but the last (and plan to start it in about five minutes). They are all so beautifully written, and really draw on the Scriptural accounts. I have thoroughly enjoyed these books--just like everything else I have read that she has written. A few years ago I read Redeeming Love, and last summer I read The Last Sin Eater. Both were "can't put down" reads.