Rachael does it again!

Don't be put off by this less than appealing photo. I made this meal tonight for Charlie and he went crazy for it. Literally crazy. I can take or leave Rachael Ray's on-screen personality but her recipes have proved to be - must I say it? - yumm-o. Here's a link to this recipe. Only for mushroom-lovers. This is a red wine, candles, date night kind of meal that only took about 25 minutes.

Chicken with Wild Mushrooms and Balsamic Cream Sauce

Sexy Sheets!

Hi ladies! We are back at it, and jumping right in with a suggestion about making home a little more lovely... and sexy?

I've been wanting to make a linen spray for awhile, inspired by this holy passage of Scripture, some bedroom wisdom from an adulteress:

"I have spread my couch with coverings, colored linens from Egyptian linen; I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love" (Proverbs 7:16-18).

Now, while I understand her ways are wily, I feel like there is something for wives to learn from her. And as I contemplated squirting aloe gel and cinnamon on our bed, I felt the result would look less like love and more like a child had gotten into forbidden cabinets. I tried to research what form of these things she was actually using, but to no avail. The myrrh, though... there's something I can work with.

Carla loaned me myrrh essential oil for secret pre-wedding rituals. I may use a bit of this, or some of the lavender oil I just bought, to make a linen/room spray and see if it doesn't start to spice up our lives a little bit. I saw spray bottles in the dollar section of Target, so that's the plan this week. Here's the recipe I'm using:

How to Make Your Own Linen Spray

Nick & Jordan are the only ones I know who have vodka lying around (to Charlie's dismay there's no hard liquor here at the moment ;) so I'll try it without and see what happens.

to the goodness of God

All praise to our Father, who forgives instantly and waits for us to accept love and move forward.

Sometimes I spend days wallowing, WALLOWING, after I've sinned. And I blame it on God, the big tyrant in the sky keeping me stuck, asking me to atone, withholding grace until I've fulfilled my quota for misery. And suddenly I discover that he's been waiting for me on the back porch, checking his watch and tapping his feet as he hears me inside moping and pouting about, waiting, WAITING, for me to finally come outside and play.

I could have been playing!

In marriage Charlie and I get to teach each other more about the loving heart of God. In moments when Charlie is truly repentant but won't move forward into joy I understand how God must feel when I do exactly the same thing..."It's okay, I promise! You are forgiven. Come back to me! I want to enjoy this beautiful fall afternoon and some (Bailey's) hot cocoa with you!"

I am grateful for each of these moments when I finally accept grace. After so much unnecessary struggle I am freed from myself, reminded that I don't have to atone, and shown that I'm fully clean.

I feel light-hearted as I meditate on this but am also struck by the serious responsibility we have to not nullify the value of Jesus' sacrifice for our sins by spending time trying to atone for them ourselves. What an incredible, joyful obligation we are under to accept God's love!

It's time to go outside :)

Sleep!

I have been reminded once again this week how important it is for me to get sleep - not only for my sanity but for Charlie's as well.

It started on Monday night when we decided to stay longer than normal at community group. I love those people and had some great conversations. But a few early mornings and mini-meltdowns later I am faced with the fact that I need to value sleep as an act of love for my family. I know there will always be extenuating circumstances, but as a general rule I need to rest!

I think this will help me be more consistent in my love for Charlie. This week I pushed myself so hard and began viewing every hour as potentially productive until I reached a point of burnout last night and was a crying, miserable mess in bed when he got home. Welcome home, honey! There's beer in the fridge...you will need it!

There is unexpected grace in this whole situation, however. Last night I had imagined today, my day off, as a day in which I would love nothing more than to pass time in a vegetative coma in front of our computer screen. However, the Holy Spirit is at work and though I did sleep in and have indeed spent most of the morning in bed, my mind and heart are refreshed. I drank some coffee and spent time with God, and read a Passionate Homemaking blog post and FlyLady emails that have inspired me to get out of bed with a smile on my face and finish up some chores around here not because I feel obligated as a wife and martyr but because I love my husband and want to bless him. I praise God for redeeming my burnout and having the final say in this difficult week :)

Happy Autumn!

I have been collecting fun fall activities and ways to celebrate the new season instead of mourning the sun that is oh so quickly fading away. Here's what I've collected and brainstormed so far. I'd love to hear more ideas!

walk through Discovery Park
use mulling spices
make baked apples
go out for coffee dates
eat soups and potatoes
make hot cocoa mix
eat oatmeal
shop for scarves
eat stew
rotate summer clothes to the back of the closet
winterize the apartment (the only thing this involved for us was dumping our dead plants out of the pots, but okay)
eat stew
pretend it's Christmas for an evening (don't judge me!)
make cider
find a recipe to make chai tea from scratch
decorate with leaves :)
make Molly's pumpkin cream cheese roll cake
buy ridiculous rainboots
pull out the blankets and throws
keep windows shiny to let lots of light in!
get library movies to snuggle up to on dark nights (can you tell we're on a budget?)
take long late-afternoon walks and intentionally walk through crispy leaves

Happy Fall, ladies! :)

A harvest-worthy meal

Don't you just love the days when all the new recipes you make turn out wonderfully and all the food just tastes soooo good?!? Tonight's dinner kind of came together last minute. One of our family friends that lives down in Longview has a farm and they sent home some yummy produce for us with my mother. I received beautiful cucumbers, the most yummy tomatoes, a squash, some cute green peppers, and some fresh ears of corn. Wanting to make sure none of it went to waste, I put together dinner around some if it. We had corn on the cob, a delicious shrimp pasta salad, and creamy cucumbers. Oh creamy cucumbers. This is a true North Dakota recipe, passed down from my mom. It is comfort food for me. The whole meal all put together reminded me of a harvest meal.

When I was young girl and we still lived in ND, I can remember my mother, grandma and aunt taking lunch and dinner out to the men in the fields. You had a CB in your kitchen to talk to you husband out in the truck or on the combine :) Yummy meals, that were filling and of course easier to transport!

In case you want to try it, here is the very simple creamy cucumber recipe:
In a medium bowl, mix 1/2 C mayo 3 T milk 2t white vinegar 2 t sugar and pepper to taste. Peel and slice about 3 cucumbers and add to mix, tossing to coat. That's it, yummy!

Now, if I had a jello salad of some kind, I would have had an authentic harvest meal!

Let's all go picking....

On Wednesday, my mom, the kids and I went blueberry picking at Mountain View Blueberry farm. I love this farm, this is our second year going. For us, it is close, only 15 minutes away, and I can't see the sense of driving an hour to pick fruit....that is no savings! Actually, we figured out that the frozen blueberries at Costco are cheaper per pound than the u-pick, but then you don't get all the lovely fresh ones :) So far we have had big bowls of plain blueberries, blueberry pancakes and blueberry muffins are on the baking plan for today! Blueberries are one of my favorite fruits and they are always too pricey for me in the store. I plan on going again next week to replenish my stash of fresh. We picked 11 pounds and I put one gallon-size bag in the freezer so far.

I really like taking the kids to see where food comes from...ok so everyone says this now, but it is important. Really, even when we have driven an hour out to a farm, it has been worth it. Last year when we went out to a pumpkin patch, they had a mini petting zoo and a hay bale maze/playground in a barn that the kids loved. Here is a link to WA state pick your own farms : http://www.pickyourown.org/WA.htm. I had no idea there were blueberry farms in Bellevue! And of course, supporting our local food producers is very important too.

So, if you are looking for a great activity, maybe pack a picnic lunch and head out to a farm to for some u-pick artichokes :)