back in the game...

me & Avry, my niece

Wow, I haven't written here since last summer.  Where do I even start?  I guess just like you start anything else - one step at a time.  I'm working on a few things....a little blog re-design to freshen things up, taking new photos & adding some new products to my shop, sharing the story of the last few months, and of course I have made some resolutions for 2012 & I can document that process here.  Even if it takes me a little while to get it all sorted, updating here regularly is part of the plan....stay tuned! :)

Where did I go?

The past few weeks have been crazy!  And I neglected the blog for more than 3 weeks...oops!  As planned, we went to Lake Sara with my family to celebrate the 4th.  We did a lot of swimming, jumping, ice cream making, napping, eating, and fawn-watching.  The fawn up there was only a few feet from the house!  I love my family soooo much & it was a great weekend.
The next week Coco & I babysat my nieces Addie and Avry while my sister & brother-in-law went on a much-deserved cruise!  Wow, exhausting.  Everyday I dropped them off at a home daycare before work & picked them up after.  Avry was teething, Addie is 2, and we all ended up getting really bad colds.  It made for some late nights & I was completely wiped out.  But I love love love my nieces to bits so it was super fun to be with them.  Plus Cory got a diaper-changing lesson & even held down the fort by himself a few times so I could nap! Adorable :)  Our first day back home I missed them so much!  I think my body held out on the cold until I was able to actually be sick, because sure enough I felt like absolute crap all of last week.  I went to "Harry Potter church" on Sunday morning with Cory & my 2 awesome cousins from California who were visiting.  We had a jam-packed weekend with pool parties, mini golf + pizza, and a birthday bbq so a 10:30 a.m. show was the only time we could make it.  It was a sob-fest.  We loved it, I would watch it again right now if I could. 

Road Trip!!!

After work tomorrow we are heading off for the lake!!!  I'm looking forward to getting out of town for some swimming, hammock time, watching fireworks on the water & hanging with my family.  I will be back with lots of photos after the weekend!

Recipe Share: Spicy Pork & Sesame Ramen

Slightly adapted from a recipe in Let's Cook Japanese Food...

1 teaspoon sesame oil

4-6 strips of bacon, fried then crumbled

1/2 pound ground pork

1 tablespoon chili bean paste

1 teaspoon finely minced garlic

2 packages instant ramen

3 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted & ground

2 green onions, minced

Hot chili oil

In a frying pan, cook the slices of bacon and set them aside.  Wipe out the pan leaving some of the bacon grease and add the sesame oil.  Over medium-high heat, brown the pork breaking it up with a wooden spoon.  Add the chili bean paste and the garlic and continue to cook until the pork is cooked through and is very crispy.  Remove from heat & set aside (I recommend draining both the bacon and the cooked pork on a paper towel).  Cook the ramen according to the directions but discard the flavor packet.  Once cooked, drain the ramen noodles and set aside.  Divide the ground sesame seeds between two large bowls and then pour half of the chicken broth into each bowl.  Add the noodles, then top with the cooked pork, crumbled bacon & green onions.  Drizzle hot chili oil according to your taste & enjoy!!  This is one of our favorites :)

P.S.  I can usually only eat half a serving but the leftovers reheat really well & can be eaten the next day for lunch!

Weekend Update

Cory with my niece Avry....these coordinating outfits were a complete coincidence & I had to get a photo of them.  Don't they just look like they're deep in conversation?  We had a pretty good weekend: some good friends got hitched on Friday night, an a-mazing meal with my family on Saturday, a Sunday picnic in the park with the dogs (forgot the camera - boo!), and checked lots of things off my to do list!

Wedding Update: Inspiration

I saw this ring pillow over on A Beautiful Mess probably years ago at this point.  I tucked the photo away for someday and now that day is imminent!  I have a rad collection of felt from Benzie Bazaar that I got a while back and happen to have the exact colors I need to make my own.

Father's Day Weekend

Our friends Travis & Becky tied the knot on Saturday and we celebrated with the most fantastic BBQ dinner EVER!  I don't think I've ever had beef brisket & corn bread that good before. YUM.  On Sunday we had a laid back little burger grill at my parent's house to celebrate Father's Day.  My little niece Avry was napping for most of the get together, and when she woke up she was so darn serious!  Isn't she ridiculously adorable?  Not that I am biased or anything :)  My dad is doing pretty well.  Since I last updated, he had another surgery (this time at Duke) and has started treatment.  He gets very tired but just last week he golfed a full 18 holes twice!  Please continue to include him in your prayers, we are feeling very blessed that he is doing so well but we know he has a fight ahead of him.  Happy Father's Day!!!

Projects: Daisy Chain Wreath

I've been meaning to make a summer yarn & felt wreath for the past 2 years...finally I can check it off my list!  A really simple project but extra nice because I can use it in both the spring & summer.  My least favorite part is definitely wrapping the yarn around the wreath form - kind of annoying.  Making the felt flowers & hot gluing them on the wreath is the best part :)

Happy Birthday Mom!

We love & appreciate you so much more than we can say...we always wonder how you survived our childhood & continue to be in awe of the sacrifices you make for your family.  Your grace & strength through life's challenges are inspiring.  We all wish you sunshine, love & peace for your birthday this year!  Summer birthday bonus - DQ ice cream cake!!!

Wedding Update: Sweets

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We haven't finalized the details - but we know we want to celebrate our marriage with cupcakes & mini-pies!  Some thoughts on cupcake flavors - chocolate marshmallow, carrot or spice with cream cheese frosting, orange, ginger lemon, cinnamon sugar, & chai latte.  As far as the mini-pies are concerned, we would love to have dutch apple, pumpkin & pecan!  We'll have to see how it all pans out - but we are having so much fun planning & daydreaming about it!