Menu Monday: Nourishing Body and Soul

 

Quick note to start this new week: I didn’t realize the first two links on Saturday were not working right. I never could get the first one exactly right, but I added directions to get you the rest of the way there. And the second link is now fixed!

                Ryan and I are still eating high protein right now, so some of these meals are going to look very familiar!

Monday: Ground Turkey and Green Beans

What We Loved: I am actually really enjoying this recipe and played with it a little this time. Ground turkey and frozen green beans – and this time I added a can of diced tomatoes and some mushrooms!

Tuesday: Salsa Chicken and Salad

What We Loved: This was a slow cooker recipe, so three cheers for that! I put a couple pounds of turkey breasts in, along with a couple of Tablespoons of taco seasoning and a 16-ounce jar of salsa. (We’ve been loving the mild organic salsa from Walmart.) It smelled SO GOOD and shredded nicely. Had a little garden salad on the side!

Wednesday: Leftover Ground Turkey and Green Beans

What We Loved: I was gone most of the day Wednesday, so it was helpful to be able to take leftovers to church and eat them before Bible study!

Thursday: Ground Turkey and Bell Peppers

What We Loved: Ground turkey with some oregano and Italian seasoning, and about 3 colorful bell peppers – cooked up in the skillet. Easy and delicious!

Friday: Pizza Night

What We Loved: I did not want to leave the couch and my documentaries, so Ryan brought home some pizza. We appreciated it, enjoyed it, and went back to our high protein.

Saturday: Cobb Salad

What We Forgot: Ryan forgot to put banana peppers on his! But we had mixed greens, cucumber, avocados, cherry tomatoes and peppers from our garden, egg, and chicken!

Sunday: Chuck Roast with Celery and Baked Asparagus

What We Loved: I put the roast in the slow cooker early in the morning, and by dinner, it was SO tender!! I baked some asparagus to go with it.

Sunday Scrapbook: Moments from the Week

 

I could write about the length of this four day work week, but alas, this will be faster:

                Anyone else??

                It wasn’t a bad week at all. I just don’t understand how short weeks can feel so long!

                But here’s a peek at some of our short-week fun!

                Last Sunday afternoon, I tried to take a nap but someone wasn’t having it. It’s so hard to be irritated with her when she’s so stinkin’ cute! My favorite part of Sunday? Knowing we had Monday off! 😊

                We had a bunch of home chores to accomplish Monday, which we did, but we also made time for fun together. We got our bikes out (FINALLY!) and took a ride on the trail we love and greatly underutilize. It was the most perfect day for a ride, and I think we did about 12 miles.

                Tuesday, as you already saw, was Mom’s 90^th birthday, so we visited her, took flowers and a balloon, and spent some time celebrating her! I’m glad she had a good day and felt pretty good for her holiday!

                I traveled to Goshen (about 2.5 hours away) on Wednesday to attend a funeral visitation, and the church where it was held had its own coffee shop. It felt appropriate to patronize it since it had the kindness to be there when I needed a boost!

                Thursday was quite the ordinary day, which I welcomed. It also came with a very pretty sunrise, which I also welcomed!

                Lexi and I worked from home on Friday and while we worked, we watched all the 9/11 documentaries. Two were new, the rest were familiar, and all of them held stories. We sat with stories and finally fell asleep at the end of a long day.

                We didn’t expect yesterday to be such a rainy day, but it was! That didn’t stop Ryan from spending the entire day power washing the house and cleaning up the outside that had gotten a bit bedraggled-looking over the summer. I decorated the house (inside) for fall, and then we hosted small group at the end of the day! We just did dessert this time – and I kind of cheated on that. Marie Callender pies for the win!

Saturday Suggestions: Inspirations for Your Weekend

 

                Good morning, friends! I have a busy day ahead of me after a day of sitting, writing, brainstorming, and watching documentaries. Ryan watched a new one with me last night. Mind-blowing stories I’d not heard before. Wow. I could not absorb what I heard!

                So after the heaviness of yesterday, here are some lighter topics for you!

I go back and forth on pumpkins that don’t look like regular pumpkins. Since we don’t have an orange color scheme in our house, I’ve kind of gotten away from using any orange-colored pumpkin in our décor. I have started using a lot of white ones, because they fit in better with our blue/white colors. But historically I’ve not gone crazy on blue pumpkins because…pumpkins aren’t blue. But these are so cute. And the classic and grid versions are also blue and white. Thoughts on custom color pumpkins?? (I am not sure why the link is not working. I've redone it half a dozen times and it won't link properly. If you go to Amazon and search for Doublefill blue and white chinoiserie pumpkins, you'll find them - and the other color options, too!)

KariAnne is such a good storyteller, and this sweet story from the archives of her daughter’s life will put a smile on your face, and while you’re reading it, you can simultaneously enjoy her (now adult) daughter’s refreshed bedroom décor. Honestly if I had to start over with our bedroom, I think I’d use every single thing she features in this post. It’s a blue and white dream! But don’t get lost in the dreamy room and miss the sweet story!

As I have gotten older and have begun to understand more about the colors I like to use in decorating our home, some seasons have presented a real challenge. The standard colors of most seasons aren’t blue! 😊 But Suzy made this super creative set of fall color themes, and one of them included blue! I LOVED looking through these and learning how narrowing the colors you focus on in fall can help you have a more cohesive look. The third from the last set is the one I loved best, and I think it would help me so much to know that accenting with yellow helps me bring in the traditional fall with the blue I love! YES!

I have loved Susie Larson’s teaching for years, and I love these words she shared over on Ann Voskamp’s site. As a chronic self-sabotager, I needed this reminder to do what God has called me to do and not let the loud voices of people or the enemy get in my way. Powerful stuff in this post. I encourage you to read it!

The fall capsule wardrobe I’m following this year included a bandana size scarf as an accessory. I have never learned how to use/wear one of these, so I had to consult Pinterest! I ran across this tutorial that I found most helpful! I also really love the scarf I found on Amazon, which wasn’t too expensive, has some fun colors, isn’t wild in pattern, and works out well for me!

I think this porch basket is so pretty! I clicked the link and the price is higher than I’m willing to spend on porch decorations, but I’m tucking away the idea in case I find anything comparable in my thrifting adventures! We have a spot on our front porch that I think would accommodate something like this very nicely, and it would dress it up well. I think it would be super simple to switch out the flowers to keep up with the seasons.

Friday Memorial: 9/11

 

If you’ve been reading here very long, you know that 9/11 is an important day to me. It was the first “marking” event of my adult life, and that has led to a heart- need to remember this day every single year.

                I wonder sometimes why it matters to me so much. I did not personally know anyone who died or was injured that day. I don’t live anywhere near the crash sites. I have concluded that it matters to me so much because there was so much I did not comprehend on that day 25 years ago.

                I worked at IWU back then, and once a month, on Tuesday mornings, we had division meetings. They were breakfast meetings for fellowship and information, and that day, the meeting took place in a conference room in the gym. I remember that one of the Admissions guys came in and told us the World Trade Center had been hit by planes, and I had no idea what he was talking about. I didn’t even know what or where the World Trade Center was and could not comprehend the magnitude of his news.

                Way back then we didn’t have social media, and we didn’t have a news tab on our browser. Getting information quickly felt a little bit impossible. Somehow, the office next to ours acquired a tiny TV with rabbit ears and set it up in their office space. I would sneak over throughout the day to try to learn the latest, but all the news felt disjointed and confusing.

                My parents were on vacation (on Mackinac Island) and didn’t have cell phones, so I couldn’t reach them to ask questions or tell them how scared I was about this strange news I couldn’t understand. My on-again-off-again boyfriend was out of town for work. My roommate was AT work (overnight). I was alone and terrified.

                So I think that watching the documentaries in the following years helped me fill in the blanks for what I could not understand in 2001. And as I began to fill in the blanks, I began to hear the stories. Stories of real people. Ordinary people.

                Somewhere along the way, I made a promise in my heart that I would sit with the stories. Every year. I can’t do anything to change the outcome of those stories. But I can be a person who sits with them and hears them.

                And so I do. Every year on 9/11, I work from home, and from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to bed, I watch the documentaries. I listen to the stories. (Often they are the same ones every year, but I still sit with them.)

                Almost two years ago, during our anniversary trip, Ryan and I visited the 9/11 memorial in Shanksville. I walked beside the wall of names, touched every panel, and read the names out loud.

                I hope to one day visit all the memorials.

                But today I will simply remember. I will sit with the stories. I will hear the words and look at the faces and probably cry over the enormity of it all.

Thankful Thursday: 90 Years

 

A little over ten years ago, we threw surprise birthday party for Mom. She was about to turn 80, and we wanted to give her a special day. My sisters and I planned a cookies and canvas party, and we held it at our house in Kokomo. I had so much fun reading back through this post that showed the planning, and this post that showed the party!

                A decade later, celebrating looked a little lower key, but nevertheless, we celebrated Mom’s 90^th birthday this week!

                This year has been a tough one for her. Dad’s multiple health events this year have led to significant decline for him. I don’t write a lot about it here, because honestly, I’m not sure how to do that in the most dignified way. It’s not really a secret so much as just hard to know how to share in a way that honors him – and her, too.

                They’ve moved, they’ve wrestled with changes in their health that they can’t even really fully understand, and I know it’s been hard for them. Unexpected.

                And yet here we are, entering a brand new decade with Mom.

                My sister and brother-in-law came to visit on her birthday and brought McDonald’s and pie…so that was pretty much the best day ever!

                Ryan and I visited a little later and brought a balloon and some roses.

                Had to get some pictures with the birthday girl!

                Dad was quiet but was having a pretty good day and spent time celebrating her.

                The day after her birthday, Swiss Village had their annual Friendship Walk, where employees and volunteers take residents for a walk through the community around the building. I would have loved to have been part of it, but I needed to attend a funeral, so Ryan talked Mom into participating in the walk!

                Mom would insist that you know she does NOT need a wheelchair, but it was a long walk, so she happily rode. She still walks for regular things, though.

                These two. 😊

                It’s a good start to the new decade, I’d say!

Wednesday in the Word: A Hug

 

Today I want to tell you about a moment last week – a moment in which I felt God’s kindness so intensely, it almost felt like a little hug.

                As you know, I’m teaching Acts in our fall Growth Group (ladies’ Bible study). Last week I sat curled up on the couch, buried in Bibles, commentaries, and study books, taking pages of notes and getting more excited about what I learned as I dove in deeper than ever before.

                Right in the middle of the excitement, notetaking, adrenaline, and joy, I received some tough news. It took my breath away in a different sort of way, and I sat, still buried under books, trying to figure out how I even felt. I started to pray, and I told God I really did trust Him with the news at hand, but that didn’t make it easier to hear or accept.

                I glanced back down at my Bible, which I had been highlighting just a moment before. The very next words ready to receive a purple covering? “You will make me full of gladness with your presence.”

                Big gulp.

                In all honesty, in that moment, I didn’t feel full of gladness. I felt excitement for what I was learning mixed with deep hurt.

                And in that exact moment, God reminded me that full gladness doesn’t come from any set of circumstances. It comes from His presence. And whether my day brings excitement or heartache, I can still be full of gladness because He’s there.

                I feel this might be an ongoing lesson. That day wasn’t the last hard day. I have to come back to this verse often to remind myself of the truth of its words. But there was something wonderful about seeing those words in the very moment my heart needed them. A hug indeed.

Tuesday Tales: Celebrating 165 Months

 

Last Wednesday was our 165^th monthiversary, and it was not the sort of day that made it easy to fit in a proper celebration. Even as fiercely as we try to protect our monthiversary days, life and duty still call, and when they do, we do everything we can to make time for each other in the craziness!

                And so it was that we got up at 5 a.m. to squeeze in a workout before the busy day. This doesn’t happen every day. Our current-life-season goal is three days a week. And even that is sometimes a challenge. But we got up and worked out, and I bet you can’t even tell I hadn’t had coffee yet! 😊

                Ahhhh, looking much more human. We ate breakfast together, got ready, and before hurrying out the door to work, we took Lexi on a morning walk. The lake was calm, the temps were perfect, and we had some good talks while she sniffed every inch of the road ahead of her.

                I had a meeting at the coffee shop, so I got a special “I love you” Americano to bring to Swiss Village for Ryan on my way home. He took a break with me when I arrived so we could visit my parents. (I love him so much for many reasons, and right now his love and care for my parents is very high on that list.)

                We went back to our respective work chores for the afternoon, and then I picked him up from work so we could ride together to church. I’m teaching a women’s Bible study, so he visited my teaching room while I set it up…

                …and then I returned the favor in his GriefShare room!

                We had just enough time to gobble up the dinner I made, and I collated study papers for the men’s Bible study while we ate!

                This is life, and I wouldn’t want to share it with anyone but Ryan. I am grateful that even though it was a busy day, we at least got to work in the same spaces for part of the day!

                I love you, Ryan! Let’s see if month #166 give us a little bit more date opportunity!

                And you'll see more about this later on this week...but a HAPPY 90th BIRTHDAY TO MY MOM!!!

Menu Monday: Nourishing Body and Soul

 

                Good Labor Day morning to you, friends! If you are enjoying a long weekend, I hope this bonus day is extra good to you. Ryan and I are excited for our day (which, to be fair, will be spent at home doing more work than resting) and then a four-day week! 😊

                Here’s a look back at what we enjoyed this week.

Monday: Ground Turkey and Peppers with Salad

What We Did: I browned ground turkey (but you could use any ground meat) in a skillet with three bell peppers and some seasonings. I used oregano, garlic, and seasoned salt, but you could use whatever. We had simple garden salads on the side!

Tuesday: Grilled Tilapia with Sauteed Zucchini and Summer Squash

What We Did: My plan had been for Ryan to grill the tilapia outside on the grill, but it was 4000 degrees out there that day, so we did these inside on the Griddler, and they were superb! I had some zucchini and summer squash from our garden, so I sauteed them in a pan with some seasoned salt!

Wednesday: Air Fried Chicken Thighs with Leftover Sauteed Veggies

What We Did: This was our monthiversary dinner, and Ryan loves chicken thighs, so I air fried them and had more of the sauteed zucchini and summer squash from the night before. And we ate this standing up in the church kitchen with about ten minutes to the start of Growth Groups.

Thursday: Homemade Meatballs in Tomato Sauce with Salad

What We Did: I made no-breadcrumb meatballs with ground turkey and egg! Baked them for about 25 minutes and then simmered them in crushed tomatoes with Italian seasoning. We had salad on the side with garden tomatoes! (This recipe made twice as much as needed, so I also have some in the freezer!)

Friday: Culver’s

What We Had: This was our date night and Ryan had a Culver’s craving! I have not had a burger in a long time, and I decided I was just going to do it, so I did! Sneaked a few of Ryan’s fries, too, and we did have ice cream.

Saturday: Chick-fil-A

What We Had: This was NOT in the week’s plan! We ended up running back to town for the mirror I told you about, so we stopped at Chick-fil-A. I had a cobb salad and Ryan tried the chicken and waffles the commercials have been telling us about for days. I liked the salad. He said the chicken and waffles were just okay.

Sunday: Steak and Baked Asparagus

What We Did: Ryan grilled some steaks and I baked asparagus with sliced almonds. Pretty tasty!