Menu Monday: Nourishing Body and Soul

 

This week was our second week on our protein-and-veggie-heavy eating plan. We are both noticing a good change in how we feel, and that is encouraging. The week to come, we already know, is going to cause us to deviate a bit, because had some commitments on our calendar already, but that is okay! We look forward to those days too. But for now…here’s what we enjoyed this week!

Monday:  Greek Turkey Burgers and Asparagus

What We Did: I made this same recipe a few weeks ago, but this time I skipped the feta. The Greek spices were still good, and we enjoyed it. I had a bunch of asparagus in the refrigerator, so I baked it to go with the burgers.

Tuesday: Leftover Chicken and Mushrooms

What We Enjoyed: This was a recipe I’d made at the end of the previous week, but we had some leftovers, so that made for a fast dinner.

Wednesday: A Version of Ground Turkey and Green Beans

What I Did: I did notttttttttttttt want to cook this night, after a very long day of work. If ever we wanted to order a pizza, it was this day. Alas, I went home and used the leftovers of things I had in the refrigerator to make a version of the ground turkey and green bean recipe I made the previous week. I didn’t actually have any green beans, so I just subbed in zucchini and whatever else I could find on hand. It was tasty!

Thursday: Chicken Salad

What I Did: We needed to go grocery shopping, so I used everything I could find to cobble together a salad with air fried chicken!

Friday: Brisket and Sauteed Zucchini

What We Loved: We remembered we had a brisket in the freezer, and Ryan needed a break from chicken, so we made this in the slow cooker. I still had zucchini and summer squash, so I sauteed it for a side dish.

Saturday: Cheeseburger Soup and Salad

What We Loved: We had small group, and we had cheeseburger soup for dinner. It was so good, I could have easily had seconds and thirds! Ryan and I put together a salad with what we had on hand, and it turned out pretty tasty!

Sunday: Chicken and Leftover Salad

What We Did: We had some salad left from the night before, so we threw some chicken in the air fryer and had them together!

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments from the Week

 

                Like I said yesterday, it’s been a week around here. So much hard stuff happening across our state with all the unexpected flooding that has devastated a number of towns and cities, claimed some lives, and probably destroyed a bunch of crops. I don’t ever recall hearing of some of these places flooding before, so it’s all been very strange.

                The lake has been high – higher than I’ve ever seen it, actually – but it has good drainage measures in place, for which we are thankful. And I am so glad we had yard drains installed a couple of years ago. It was an undertaking when it happened, but without them, our house would absolutely have water standing in it this week.

                So with all that news out of the way, here is a peek at our week.

Last Sunday afternoon, we spent some time at Swiss Village with Mom and Dad. It was actually mostly Mom this time, because Dad was taking a long nap. She was extra funny in her stories that day, and it was fun to sit with her during her dinner.

Monday was a long workday for me, and I was so focused on the work at hand, I failed to take pictures of anything. I was in the office by myself all day and knocked out a ton of work…and I ended the day in a long funeral visitation line. So when I arrived home, I hit the couch hard, exhausted. Someone was very attentive when my almond butter snack arrived. She’s never more quiet and patient than when she thinks a snack is coming her way.

Our Tuesday was riddled with intense thunderstorms. So much lightning and thunder. I think that was the worst storm I’ve ever driven in. Kind of terrifying! But in the middle of the day, I was able to meet with a church member at a coffee shop, and we had a long, good talk. This was my first visit to this new coffee shop, and I absolutely adored it. I will be back!

Wednesday brought more torrential downpours. If you’re reading from afar and have seen Indiana in the news, we ae not in the part that has been hardest hit, but we are still pretty soggy! After solid rain most of the day, we were shocked that we had a beautiful sunset and a chance to take Lexi for a walk. And look what we saw while we were out! These beauties are so much prettier when NOT colliding with my car.

The rains continued throughout the week, making for gloomy days and nights. We decided to head to the grocery store on Thursday evening and made a quick stop by the thrift store while we were at it. Didn’t find any treasures this time, but it sure was fun to look!

I spent Friday working from home and doing some school work. For the first time since I started my class, I ran into some stuff that was really hard to wrestle through in my heart. I know it’s good to be pushed and stretched, and that is part of the point of school. Didn’t make it easier or any fun, and I even cried over it a little. But I kept reminding myself that discomfort fosters growth if you let it. I tried to let it.

You may or may not remember that a couple of years ago, when Mom and Dad moved to Swiss Village, Mom’s kitchen island came to live here. It had been made for her – including for her height. It was too short for me to comfortably use, so for almost the whole time that it has been here, we’ve had it propped up on bed risers. It was an affordable fix, even if it looked a bit questionable. As part of our slow kitchen revision, we moved it to permanent legs, and I love how it looks! I appreciate Ryan’s ability to do projects like this!

Saturday Suggestions: Inspiration for Your Weekend

 

Good morning, friends! It has been quite a week here – and quite a week for Indiana. While it has rained here most of the week, we are safe and dry in our home, which is not the story for many communities around us – and one of my very favorite towns in Indiana. My goodness. I can’t fathom it, even when I see the pictures.

I’m not sure how to transition from heaviness like that into fun links, so…I’ll just offer them to you here if you have time and space for them today!

I love cookies. I make good cookies. I cannot decorate a cookie (recognizably) to save my life. Maybe that’s why I found this so satisfying? Why do the professionals make the decorating look so simple? If I tried this, the icing would be everywhere, and you’d be asking me to explain the cookie to you. But she…did a magnificent job!

I was so sorry to read that Sully Sullenberger (the pilot who landed the plane on the Hudson) has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. I loved reading about his tenacity and determination, though. That miracle landing of his fascinated me back when it happened, and given that I am scared to fly, I said for a long time after that I’d be willing to fly in any plane he piloted.

Check out this adorable floating cottage in Seattle. Isn’t it THE CUTEST??? The price tag is a little lot out of our budget, but oh it’s just the cutest and sweetest little place. Ryan wasn’t wild about the kitchen floor, but I was wild about all the natural light and the cute little wrap around deck!

Sarah asks a good question in this post. How would you answer Jesus’ most personal question? It’s a humbling question to really ponder, and I think it’s worth taking a little time to do so. Don’t be afraid to let a little discomfort enter the story and be really honest about what you would say!

I have some slip-on shoes I enjoy wearing in the summer, but sometimes they hurt my feet if I try to wear them without socks. I ordered some of these and they work GREAT! They don’t slip off my feet like some of the others I’ve had in the past, and they feel good!

I always love Megan’s home decorating style, and I LOVE this feature wall she made. I love how she brought huge personality to a big wall without putting 100 things on it! I don’t have a big enough wall to do this at our house, but maybe you do! (Also, as I get older, I can’t get enough of sconces, though I own exactly ZERO of them.)

Friday Fun: 80s Nostalgia

 

I will admit it. I got totally sucked into this article about things that made life…life…for kids of the 80s. I was actually surprised at how many I either didn’t remember at all or I just didn’t participate in them. (Ahem…video games.) But can we talk about some of them today, because I have absolutely sailed back into the best parts of my childhood. You can refer to the original article for pictures and descriptions!

                I don’t remember Boondoggles, but I do remember jelly shoes. And jelly bracelets. I remember how the jelly shoes would eventually crack right at the toe and rip apart until you had to just beak down and buy new shoes.  And I remember the jelly bracelets were thin and you would pile as many on your wrist as you could, and when you got bored, you’d weave them together to make chains.

                I don’t remember blowing into Nintendo 64 cartridges, but I do remember carefully extracting cassette tape from the player after it unwound and tangled. I remember using a pencil to wind the spool, trying to coax the tape back into place without ripping it so the tape would still play!

                I absolutely can still taste the wooden spoon that came with the ice cream cups. I also remember the creamsicle push pops that looked like toilet paper tubes. How many of those did I eat over at the neighbors’ pool the summers I went swimming there?

                I remember the pull-down maps at school and how irritated the teachers would get when they would pull it all the way down to make it roll back up…and it wouldn’t. And it was always the map on top that did that, so the maps underneath became inaccessible.

                I don’t remember the Jetsons’ robot maid because I didn’t watch the Jetsons, but I do remember ALF! I lovvvvvvvvvvvvved ALF!

                I remember the webbed lawn chairs, and for all the nostalgic things I would return to, these are not among them. They always left weird patterns on the backs of my legs.

                I remember the kitchen (corded) phone and how amazing it was when Mom and Dad upgraded from rotary to push button. I also remember that even though I pushed buttons to dial, the tone still sounded like a rotary dial, so I was always done punching buttons before it was done dialing. I also remember how amazing it was when they replaced the cord with an extra long cord so I could stretch it into the utility room and have privacy for my tweenage conversations. And then they bought a cordless phone, and I could talk literally anywhere in the house.

                I remember the school lunch trays and the rectangle pizza…and the “beef stew” and bread and butter and cartons of chocolate milk that sometimes failed to open well. And pudding. So much pudding.

                I remember photo envelopes and developing film in general. I remember when we all had to wait a week or two to see if everyone had their eyes open for the picture. I remember when one hour photo development became a thing – and double prints, for that matter.

                I’d forgotten all about the sit-and-reach box in PE class until I saw this article, but I do remember it now. I also remember the little squares on wheels that we sat on and pushed with our feet – and the giant parachute we all grabbed and waved up and down collectively. I also distinctly remember hiding in the back of the dodgeball line and then getting pelted with those rubber balls that smarted when they whacked my legs.

                I remember Beverly Cleary books. And Nancy Drew. And The Boxcar Children. And books all day. Oh how I loved reading from the very beginning!

                I not only remember overhead projectors, I had one. The grandest gifts were fresh transparency sheets and new Vis a Vis markers! I also remember when churches started supplementing hymnals with overhead projectors to share the lyrics to the worship choruses. And sometimes they’d put the lyric sheet up backwards without realizing it until people pointed…

                I don’t remember rocket slides, but I remember the old metal slides that scorched you in the sun and often ran out of slide, leaving you stuck halfway down.

                Ahhhh, memories. These made me smile. How about you? Any of these part of your life – or your kids’ lives?

Travel Thursday: Highs and Lows

 

I have had so much these last few months, looking back over our birthday trips, and each time I become freshly grateful we made this tradition, mostly accidentally, that first year we were married. This week’s trip down memory lane (memory waters??) is a look back at our vacation two summers ago, when we visited North Carolina and West Virginia.

                Here are some of my favorite memories from that adventure:

·         Sweets & Seats! Our first night out, we stayed in Asheville, North Carolina. This was a rare repeat visit to a city, but the last time we were there, it was winter, and in fact, we were there during a heavy snowfall that mostly shut down the city. This time we were able to eat outside, walk the streets, and listen to live music. After our dinner was kind of a fail, we went in search of a dessert spot and found Sweets & Seats. We split a piece of cake that was SO good – and the coffee was some of the best we’d ever consumed. It was such a cute little place.

·         Our whole trip was crafted around going to see the Biltmore, which we also saw in the winter, but summer is a whole different look. We had been gifted tickets, but no one told us we needed to reserve a tour time ON those tickets, so we couldn’t get in when we arrived. We would have been able to get in much later in the day, but we opted out. Instead, we enjoyed it from the outside and walked around the gardens (which were obviously not in bloom during our winter visit).

·         During our winter visit, we had tried to see the Billy Graham Cove, but it was closed for the snowstorm, so we went on this visit instead. My two favorite things were standing behind his traveling pulpit, and seeing the gorgeous prayer chapel Billy and Ruth designed.

·         We scrapped some of our original plans to drive part of the Blue Ridge Parkway and drive up Mount Mitchell. This was one of my favorite things on the whole trip!

·         Then there was the whitewater rafting. Ohhhhh the whitewater rafting. You remember that, right? If you have forgotten, Ryan asked if I’d be up for trying it, I said a solid (and repeated) NO, so he signed us up for some other water adventure. But when the day came, the water levels were too low for whatever that other adventure was, so they upgraded us FOR FREE to whitewater rafting. Ryan told me later that when we arrived at the launching point, he really did not think I would be able to do it. That makes two of us. But I did it. I cried all the way through it, I had a massive welt on my leg for a month, and I didn’t think I’d ever stop shaking. But I did it. (And we got the picture package to prove it.)

·         On our way home, we stopped at the original Bob Evans Farm and loved eating there and exploring the grounds!

Memorable times. Memorable times. 😉

Wednesday in the Word: Goodness of God

 

One of the tricky things about being in ministry is figuring out what to do with hard days and seasons. I am, after all, still human. Things still stir up anger in me. I will probably always wrestle with fear. I still get overwhelmed. When those times come, I sit and stare at the reality in front of me and try to figure out what to do with it.

                It feels like an occupational hazard to own it out loud, because people tend to expect you to have a handle on these things and sail through them seamlessly. Sometimes it’s hard to know who to talk to when you are the person other people talk to when they have similar struggles.

                Anytime I share something on social media, I feel intense pressure to make sure it’s completely honest while being completely encouraging and completely beneficial. That’s a lot to ask from one post representing real life on planet earth.

                The last few days have been challenging for my heart. I can’t even spell out all the things that have filled the days without saying things that aren’t mine to share – or things that are just private. (Remember privacy? Does anyone have that anymore?)

                And so I sat down last night with my journal in hopes that spilling my brain into that would help me make sense of hurt, disappointment, overwhelm, anxiety, anger, fear, and anything else that really needs to get out of my head and heart.

                It did help. I knew it would. Journaling always wins at that.

                After I wrote the words, I stared at them and wondered…what do I do with them? All this truth is spilled out on these pages, and now I must act on it. I must figure out where to start to take forward steps, because otherwise it’s just complaining and then returning to life as I know it.

                Ryan and Lexi were napping, so the house was quiet. I opened my Bible and found my way to Psalm 92. It begins with this:

                It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night.

                So I did that. I gave thanks for every rotten, hard, overwhelming, unfair, confusing, out-of-my-control, irritating situation. (For the record, not every situation fit every one of those categories. Life is, indeed, not that dire.) And then I spent some time just praising the Lord. He’s worthy of that regardless of any circumstance. And then I reminded myself of the truth: He’s steadfast in love every day, right through everything. And He’s faithful always.

                Nothing changed about my circumstances, but I uncovered peace for my heart. I remembered the goodness of God – personally. And the same God who has been good throughout my whole life will not fail to be good in each of the situations surrounding me now!

Tuesday Tales: Back2School Bash

 

I had grand visions of writing a big post about our church’s Back2School Bash and showing you pictures of all the fun we had. Turns out when you’re running a snow cone stand, you don’t have time to take pictures, so I think I have two for you. But I can tell you about it!

                I’ve done photography at this event the last few years, but honestly, my favorite thing about serving at events is getting to work alongside Ryan. And since we did different jobs at this one, we never got to see each other once the day began. So this year I asked if he’d be up for doing the same job, and he was super excited about that.

                He’s done snow cones before, and he loves it, so I signed up to make those with him. Two of our friends rounded out our team, and we figured out a system in no time flat.

                Ryan fed the ice into the ice shaver and packed all the snow cone cups for us. The kids (and the big kids!) told us the flavor(s) they wanted, and the rest of us pumped flavor and poured snow cap on top.

                I loved watching the kids try to figure out their flavor combos. Only a very few wanted every single one. Cotton candy and blue raspberry were, by far, the most popular flavors.  A handful of adults just wanted plain ice. (It was hotttttttttttt out there, so that made sense.)

                The time absolutely flew. I think we were an hour and a half into the two-hour event before I even looked at my watch. Whew!

                I loved serving with Ryan. I think we should do that again next year.

                And as for the rest of the event…just imagine bounce houses and crafts and face painting and free donuts and carnival games and haircuts and shopping and backpacks and music and prizes….just imagine it!