Summer Food

With the weather being in the high 80's, we've been enjoying simple summer foods.  My mom is also in town for a bit while Clint is doing some traveling, so the meal plan is simpler than ever.

Mostly lots of fruit, cheese and crackers, french bread, cucumbers (so refreshing!), carrots, hummus...

Awhile back we were using up some ingredients and came up with this yummy dish

It's bruschetta that we learned how to make this past fall from a friend (tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil, balsamic vinegar) that we put on super good french baguette from Trader Joe's ($1.99 for a large loaf brought in daily).  On this particular night we added salmon we'd baked a night or 2 before.  Add in some fresh pineapple on the side...  It was a good, simple meal.  Perfect for eating at the picnic tables while drinking water with lemon. 

Thankful today for...

• family in town for a bit
• seeing Evee interact with her papa and grandma...we don't think we've ever seen her this expressive or chatty so fast
• help while Clint is away...thankful for friends and family even as I dread our time apart
• faith and hope in this life's story...that Christ is our hope
• naps...even if they are few and far between (they are wonderful when we get them)
• making decisions based on what works best for us

Blessings and peace to you as you start off this week...

Grace

Thankful for grace today...for myself, for others and for the space on this blog where I'm not getting to write much this week. 

Working to be thankful in all things and not let the worries (and details) of this life get me discouraged or steal my joy. 

I'm sure a post will come soon as I find time to dwell on things that bring joy and peace.  There are so many things that I am so grateful for (like my baby shower this past Sunday and times with friends over the weekend).  Things I want to record here and focus upon.

I hope that the start of this week for you has been a bit more serene (and slower) than mine :).

Anticipation

Right now I'm anticipating/thankful (for things both coming soon and toward the end of the summer)...

The end of short term for Clint

Seeing family (my parent's coming here and Clint going to family)

Choices becoming clearer and the possibility that decisions may get made

The next couple months with Evee...a bit of fun planned and a lot of time just the 2 of us.  She is a joy.

Drives to see good friends and family - and those we get to do the driving with!

Changes in pace

The baby coming...knowing whether it's a boy or a girl...deciding a name...seeing who this little person is

My sister with her little one who will come soon after the baby arrives (Yay!!!)

Last night I was walking, meal in hand, to drop off food to a friend.  I was so tired from the day, but it was nice to walk over to bring a meal.  It was like saying, "we are in this together."  Maybe not that particular situation, but life. 

I thought about how wonderful it is to be in community.  To truly live life together.  I think about the past few months.  There is an endless list of happenings, and more that I don't even know about.  Babies being born, babies lost, loved ones in the hospital, love ones passing.  Questions about future, jobs, houses, apartments.  The unknown, the known.  Birthdays, festivities, many gatherings...wine nights, happy hours, bbqs. 

When it boils down there have been things of wonderful beauty and deep sadness.  The wonderment of it all is that we experience it together.  Certainly someone in the community is also hurting, happy, tired, excited, anxious.  And, although it may look very different to my own (joy, pain, tiredness, peace) it is always a comfort to know that people are around - they care and I care.

Rhythms of our lives

Thinking about part of a song that was sung at the conference I went to a couple of weeks now...

"What if we choose to try to let the rhythms of our lives tell the story of God's redemption and glory.  Imagine the impact and the ride."

Fairly profound.  I've been thinking about that over the last couple of weeks and will continue to, I'm sure.  What is the rhythm of my life?  What is it showing others?  What is it speaking to Evee?

My Mom

On this Mother's Day Eve I am thinking of my own mom.  I'm so blessed by the woman that she is...the mom she is and has been to me as well as my other 3 siblings and our spouses.

She is a lover of life and a life-long learner.  She is passionate about truth and full of faith.  She is empathetic - always showed us compassion growing up and now.  She supports my dad in all things and in all ways.  We see an example of a beautiful marriage...one that is true to who they are.  She is passionate about her family and has made many sacrifices along the way for each of us.  She loves deep conversation, talking about things of importance, and wants the best for others.

Some sweet memories I have to date...
The way she prayed for us growing up and even now - sitting in the chair when we got home from school, Bible spread on her lap, many times she'd drifted off to sleep somewhere in the process.
The way she would be tidying up the house at night while the rest of us might be watching a movie or hanging out...and she wasn't bitter.
How she believed me when I said things - now and all growing up....she didn't think I was too young or didn't understand life...she had faith with me.
The way she loved Clint right away.
The many times she moved us into different homes and apartments...helping me clean and unpack many a time.
How she came right away when we miscarried our first child...how we sat at Panera while I got phone calls from the doctor about my blood levels...crying together at the loss.
How she was (from what I hear) giddy at the hospital waiting for the birth of Evee and I'm sure how she will be as she takes care of Evee while awaiting our second.
The many random phone calls, the talking and analyzing of things of importance and not.
Going for coffee and breakfast (which I'm looking forward to again in a brief couple of weeks!).

She is a blessing, a friend, a mother.

Happy Mother's Day to you mom.  I am blessed.  I love you...

{It seems it should be a picture of me and my mom, but I love this picture of her with Evee soon after Evee was born.  The amazing mom I have and the sweet girl I'm blessed to be mom to.}

*I'll add a note that my mom wrote her own sweet mother's day words here.

This is how...

peace is spread.  It's in all the little things...

My sister sent me a Mother's Day card and I got it tonight.  It was the perfect encouragement for this day.  Just to think that she thought of me while she is celebrating her own first Mother's Day this year is amazing to me. 

I kind of keep forgetting that it's this weekend.  But then, to get something from my sister...I don't know.  It just made my day.

It's a beautiful thing to be thought of.  Of course it's treasured in the midst of pain, grief, joy.  But to be thought of in the midst of normal life, that is a blessing as well.

Happy Mother's Day to many of you...

(These sweet pictures came with her card.)

This past Christmas - I'm holding her little Miles.

Today was a long one.  Nothing inherently bad, but long.

The morning was simple.  Slept a bit longer than normal, had more than an hour to myself (I love swaps). 

Then I decided to tackle reorganizing; putting baby/toddler clothes in better containers for storage.  Before I realized, it was 12:45 and the room I was organizing was chaotic.  I hadn't eaten a thing all day, Clint was home for a short lunch with us (having worked all morning and going to work all evening), and Evee and I had to get going shortly and would be out for the entire afternoon/evening and be home right before bedtime.

Where was I not thinking?  At what point did I take on more than I should?  Is there any time a pregnant woman should just forget to eat? (A big "no" to that last one.)

The day had many wonderful moments.  I was able to accomplish.  Evee and I made it through and all ended well.  As I sit here at the end of the day, things are finally put away.  Music is playing.  All is fine. There is peace and simplicity in this home again.

But, it was too much.  A reminder that I have a choice as to what I can take on in one day...maybe not in all things, but in some.  That things can wait.  That having Clint come home to a peaceful home, one that is not rushed or frazzled, is more important to me.  To be aware of the timing of the day.  To remember that these things help me to be the person I want to be - kind, loving, gentle.  Things that are best not forgotten.

Neighbors

Last night Evee and I sat on the porch eating ice cream cones.  It was just at that time of night when it is oh so perfect.  Some of the older girls around here were still playing outside, seeing how far they could kick a ball to each other and dreading that their mom was about to call them in.  Another neighbor walked past and Evee promptly said, "It's our neighbor." as she usually does with those particular neighbors who she can't remember the names of.

All the way to the store to get the cones and all while sitting on the porch Evee and I commented on the beauty of the evening. 

I thought about how wonderful it is to sit on a porch during that time of night.  To enjoy the warmth of the day and the breeze of the sun fading.  To enjoy ice cream and not care that it's going down her dress, since the dress was already very dirty from the playing that happened during the day. 

I thought about how nice it is to sit on your own porch and see kids playing in the green space between ours and the next apartments.  To look up and see other neighbors/friends sitting on their porches since the apartments face each other. 

As Evee's evening drew to an end we could hear her singing as she fell asleep in bed.  Friends (also neighbors) came over - we spent the next number of hours sitting on our couches, talking, relaxing...being together. 

I'm so thankful for these things - the quiet, the laughter, the singing...the peace in these moments. 

Enjoying the sun

Pictures from visiting a nearby farm.  This can never be a wrong thing with Evee.  She always loves it.  Even better with friends and when new chickens are getting up their nerves to go outside for the first time... 

Hopefully we'll only do this more as the schedule slows down (kind of) and the farmer's markets start happening.