Me + Pinterest

Pinterest search subject - plastic easter grass craft.

Meanwhile...

Feast

Justin and I love people. We love people visiting our home. We love feeding people. We love finding ways to love on the people we love. We LOVE people. It's engrained in who we are as individuals and has always been a huge factor in our relationship.

Unfortunately, we are also very messy people. We try, really we do. We'll make a lot of headway but the mess is always just ahead of us. And we have brought 3 small people in to help the mess along. Growing up, if the house wasn't clean we couldn't have company over which meant I never had friends stay the night, we almost never had dinner guests, and unannounced visitors were completely taboo. Needless to say, as an adult, I've had some serious anxieties over our mess as it pertains to the people that I so desperately want to serve and have in my own home.

It's all getting better - the mess and the anxiety. And so, tonight, when our dinner plans with one set of friends were cancelled, I looked around and I just said "What the hell." What. The. Hell. I picked up the phone and called another friend and said "Do you have dinner plans?" and with that, it all went away. I knew that my desire to fellowship and serve this other family outweighed my fear of the dishes in my sink and the huge pile of laundry on the sofa. "People are more important than things" - I say this to my preschooler all the time. But it hit me smack in the face tonight.

Give love and you will receive it. Give yourself permission to care more about the people who matter and stop giving energy to pride and fear. Just do it!

My Very Own Creamy Tomato Soup Recipe

I'm posting this here so I don't lose this recipe. I can say with certainty and pride that I made this one up myself. Love it because it can be lenten or not.

olive oil
2 cloves garlic - minced
1 small onion - diced
1 large carrot - shredded
1 can canellini beans
1 28oz can whole tomatoes
16-24 oz Chicken or Vegetable Broth
1 tsp thyme
1 Tbs Herbs de Provence
2 Tbs Earth Balance or Butter

Saute garlic, onion, and carrot in olive oil until soft. Add beans, tomatoes, herbs and chicken broth. Simmer until beans are softened - about 20 min. Puree in small batches until completely smooth. Add Earth Balance or Butter and stir. Serve with crusty bread or fancy grilled cheese (duh!).

The added butter at the end really makes this soup so creamy, so delicious. You will never ever want eat Campbell's Tomato soup again.

Been A Minute

Well, it's been a little while since I've posted anything... With good reason, I can assure you. I could write a book about the last few months, but I don't have time, so here is a big portion in photographs.

So basically, we found out at 35 weeks that we were having twins. By that time they were too squished up to tell the gender. Turns out they were both girls - Zenia Noelle and Helena Sparrow. They were born at 39.5 weeks. They're incredible.

And now that that's out there, maybe I can start up this baby... erm... blog again.

Alive and All's Well

Just posting this to say I'm here. A novel of a post is due full of love, life, babies (!!!), and change. Please be patient as I gather it all up to share.

Gratitude 7.27.11

Today I am grateful for:


*My husband's domination of the physics final and the "top of the class" status.
*Ancient Faith Radio - Seriously easing the afternoon and putting me in the right state of mind
*The true forgiveness of a two-year-old.
*Ice despensers
*The motivation to try something new
*Moments of giddy anticipation - even in the midst of stress.

That last one keeps getting me. We're moving, I'm having another baby, my husband is going back to school. These are all really really good things, but they can be stressful. Right now I'm living for the few moments in the day where I allow myself to daydream. And then everything is back in it's right place, my perspective changes and I get excited about the changes. Because Life keeps on moving. If we can't change with it then we'll continually live in anxiety and stress.

That Cake

Maybe that last post needs some explanation - or maybe it doesn't. 

Justin and I have talked about cake for almost a week. I wanted cake. He wanted cake. So, on Tuesday Ruby and I came up with a plan to bake a surprise cake for Daddy Rabbit while he was at work. The man deserves cake sometimes. Seriously.

I called up my friend, Amanda for moral support and our little ladies helped out. (As I mentioned before... no time for pictures. We needed cake.) Baking with toddlers is always an experience all its own, but we'll talk about that another time. Let's get to the good stuff!

Here's the part where I divulge all the secrets about the cake and its construction... 'cept there aren't any. It was way easy, and nothing I came up with on my own. I got the cake recipe HERE and the frosting HERE. (Have you met Joy the Baker by the way? She's one of my BFF's favorite bloggers out there.) The cake certainly lives up to its name, as it is very moist. It also has just the right amount of chocolatey goodness without being too rich.

A few words about the frosting: First, it tastes like chocolate milk. Buttery, delicious chocolate milk. Second, yes, it has Ovaltine in it. That was one of the reasons I picked it - truth. I figured it was worth doing just because I have that ingredient on hand. Who else in the world keeps Ovaltine in their house? Nobody? Just me? Ok. Third, if you read Ms. the Baker's post you'll see that the recipe is for an insane number of cupcakes. I just halved it, but you could make the whole thing and take the left-overs to your next slumber party. Or you could just eat them in the corner with a spoon. You could. Believe me you really could. Ahem. BUT, halving the recipe made just the right amount.

The only problem with baking a cake is the excuse to eat cake every day. Anyone hungry?