There’s a lot that could be said…

About our trip to the Swiss Wine Festival yesterday.

We could talk about how Vevay is like Deliverance.  Or our experiences at lunch.  Or the crowded tent.  Or the baby bib that read, “Daddy drinks because I cry.”  Or the roads to Vevay.  Or how much fun it was to see Lauren and Marcus and everyone else.  Or how Andy ordered his Bowties Bolognese as Bologna Bowties at dinner.  Or how Andy and Marcus spent the day finishing each other’s movie quotes and song lyrics.  Or any number of other things.  But really, only one moment took the cake.

Oliver full bladder urinated on my dad’s lap.  

Hu.mil.i.ation.  That’s what I felt. 

Glad that’s over

So, the start of the school has come and gone.  I have to give out three week progress reports this coming week.    That kind of boggles my mind.

The first week of school was great.  My classes were sweet, things flowed well, and I finished feeling pretty happy.

Then we had a wonderful weekend and I went into this last week thinking that things were going to be great again.

I was dead wrong.

This week was one of the hardest of my career.  I came home every night on the verge of tears.  A few things happened that shifted the momentum of three of my four classes and took my formerly sweet days into a not-so-nice place.

I can’t really go into it, for obvious reasons.  But at the end of the week, I was seriously questioning my sanity.  I’m very thankful for the next two days off.  Because I’m so worn out it hurts.  Even if I have several hours of work to do tomorrow so today’s the only real “off” day.  At least tomorrow I can go work in the quiet of my room with no one else around.

And I might want to homeschool my own kids.  Rather than subject them to this kind of crazy.  I’m mostly kidding about that.  I think.

Dear Monday

Dear Monday,

You weren’t fantastic.  In fact, you sort of sucked.  Sorry to be so harsh.  But you did.  Can you ask Tuesday to be better?

Love,

Ashley

Yummy Dinners!

Since we are trying not to spend as much of our time and money at the Taco Bell drive thru, I have had to do some more cooking these last two weeks.  Here are two recipes that we have enjoyed this week that were both super easy.

Pico de Gallo (after having this, it might be difficult to go back to jarred salsa)

2 tomatoes, finely chopped

1/2 jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

2 green onions, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

1 lime

Salt (just a sprinkle)

Mix all chopped ingredients, juice the lime over the top.  We used it on chips and as filling for quesadillas (with cheese).  I might put some of the extra on spinach for lunch tomorrow.  It’s awesome.  It’s supposed to have cilantro, but we kind of hate it, so we leave it out.

My Big Fat Greekish Chicken

I made this up last night.  And it was awesome.  I hid the leftovers from Andy so I could eat them today…and I obsessed about eating them all day.  Lunch was the best part of my day!

Chicken breast—salt and pepper it.

Cook your chicken until it’s nearly finished.  Then zest and juice a lemon right into the pan.  The juices will sizzle and some will evaporate right away.  That’s good.  Then add a good handful (maybe a 1/3 c.) of feta cheese.  Most of it will appear to disappear as well.  It will melt onto the chicken and be perfect.  Top it off with a tablespoon of finely chopped fresh oregano and serve it right away.  Seriously, those flavors together are awesome.  The oregano and the lemon are really fresh and the cheese is salty and tangy and it’s oh-so-good.

Sweet Saturday Morning

So this morning Andy and I did something we had intended to do all summer long….we finally made it to the Farmers Market downtown.  I honestly didn’t know what to expect.  We live in a fairly small town, and I didn’t really know what would be there.  I was totally surprised an in a really good way.  The Farmer’s Market is set up in a really beautiful part of downtown, surrounding the fountain on a street that looks nearly parklike.  There were maybe twenty or so different vendors with a variety of different things.  There were lots of tomatoes, a huge variety of peppers, some beets, potatoes, and other great produce.  I did hear someone say that there was even more in July.  I think the corn, green beans, and peaches were at their end this week.  There were also eggs, homemade soap, and local honey.  And there was a catering company set up making breakfast.  I heard that breakfast was really awesome—the exact quote was, “they have an omelet that is to die for.”  We didn’t try it this week, but we will…maybe next week!  We bought 7 tomatoes, 3 peaches, 4 green peppers, 4 lbs. of potatoes, a container of honey and 10 honey sticks.  It was exciting to make my meal plan for the week around these great ingredients.  As we walked back to the car, Andy looked over and told me that we’ll be back next week.  He wants to go back at least every other weekend.  And that is totally fine by me!

Meeting Baby Benjamin

Last Tuesday, our friends Andy and Mandy welcomed their first son, Benjamin, into this world. 

Andy Cook and I got to meet him tonight.  And my stars is he ever a cutie.  He was a tiny thing (a full 2.5 lbs. smaller than the last newborn I held) with a full head of dark hair.  Andy and I both go to hold the sweet thing and we were over the moon.  Andy asked all sorts of questions about all the things about childbirth and babies he has ever wanted to know…and got a little lightheaded and queasy at some of the answers.  I watched him swallow hard a few times and clear his throat….both signs that he feels a little like throwing up.  It made me giggle.  We did decide something in talking to Andy and Mandy….and it was something we had already discussed.  When they had Ben, no one came to the hospital with them.  Their family didn’t arrive until the day after they got home.  They had the chance the bond with their son before others came in and wanted the chance to hold him.  They got to recover and just spend time as a new family of three without worrying about the comfort and entertainment of others.  They told us about the couple next door (Ben was the only baby born in the hospital on his birthday…that’s how small our town is) who delivered the next day.  They had tons of family there and it was a really loud and boisterous time and the father had to keep running in and out giving updates instead of focusing on his wife.  And during her recovery time, they were surrounded by others.  Another woman at church had told me the story about her son’s birth when her whole family saw the baby before she did.  And I don’t want that.  Andy and I are definitely more keep to ourselves and do things ourselves kind of people….so I would prefer Andy and Mandy’s way when we eventually get around to having kids.

As we left tonight and headed to our car, Andy looked at me and told me that he wanted one of his own.  He thought Ben was pretty cute …and he thought Theodore was pretty adorable when he saw him in June, so he’s decided that he needs one of his own now.  I got pretty tickled.

My summer music favorites

So…..I have a slightly obsessive personality.  Which probably isn’t so surprising.  But when I like something, I REALLY like it.  Like I like it until I wear it out.  Like…watching Grease multiple times a day over Christmas break in sixth grade.  Like…the summer LK and I watched Angels in the Outfield at least once a day.  Like….the continual repeat of Gilmore Girls seasons my junior and senior of college.  Like….watching every episode of The Office on my honeymoon (Andy hadn’t seen them….and I was sick).  You get the picture.

It hasn’t changed.  I’m still obsessive.  It might be shows about serial killers in Miami, or it could be shows about telling your kids how you met their mother, but it’s really these two cds.  These are my summer obsessions.

First up: Jake Brothers “Reflection of You”

Jake was the worship leader at camp this year, and I was truly impressed with him.  He was a fantastic worship leader with a real heart to serve the Lord.  He is the music pastor at a church in Indianapolis and does retreats and events on the side.  Honestly, he was great.  And so is this cd.  It’s really beautiful and I love it.

And the second: Adie “Just You and Me”

Adie is Adie Camp…Jeremy Camp’s wife.  This is her second cd (I have the first two..it was the obsession a few summers ago).  This cd is so peaceful and so beautiful.  It has been in my car cd player nearly constantly this summer.  I so love it.  Her voice is so sweet, so gentle.  I just love this cd so much.