This was my Valentine's Day dessert. The icing is amazing! A word to the wise, if you're going to make chocolate covered strawberries eat them right away. I tried to freeze them, big mistake, although I heard you can refrigerate them.
Great with crackers. My recipe was out of a Jamaican cookbook, but looks very similar to this one.
What I'm listening to (Music).
I am loving John Mayer's album Paradise Valley.
What I'm listening to (books).
Now that I have a longer commute to work I've been flying through audio books. Some were great some, well not as great. I'm just going to include the ones I liked.
I listened to this on my long drive to Nebraska. It was great. I don't have kids and I still loved it.
What I've been doing to enjoy these past few snowy months
Well I got engaged a few months back :)
So it's been a lot of trying to decide what our wedding will look like. Lots to plan.
Also, I moved the end of January, so I've been settling in and still doing a bit of rearranging.
That's been my life recently, oh and watching the Olympics, which I didn't have nearly enough free time to watch. Hope you are all well and enjoying life!
Any suggestions for books to read or listen to? I'd love to hear what you're loving!
So I decided another quick round-up of my life was the easiest way to get caught up in a hurry. A lot happens in a month. I'm ready for Spring (green grass and blooming flowers Spring, we've got the rainy part down), I'm ready to play outside and dare I say it, I'm ready for Summer. But anyways, that can all wait, here's what has been keeping me busy.
Okay, so this is one is a combination of prep reading, watching a DVD segment and discussion with a small group, but I wanted to share because so far it is really great. If you have ever been curious about the origins of the Catholic Church, then you should look into this and see if any of the churches in your area are doing the study. Good stuff!
A baby blanket :) So many friends are expecting, it's always fun to think of their new little one and pick fabrics and make something they will hopefully love.
I've been trying to do some catch-up on scrapbook pages, so whenever I have a free afternoon/evening (which is oh-so-often ;)
What I'm listening to (Music).
I am loving Darius Rucker's song "Wagon Wheel" (wasn't a big fan in the beginning, but love it now)
I watched a bit of the ACMs (Academy of Country Music Awards) and loved Hunter Hayes' new song "I Want Crazy"
What I've been doing to enjoy these past few rainy months
I went down to Illinois for Easter with my parents and brothers. It was a great and very relaxing few days.
My mom is super cute and made these bunnies to go with our lunch.
My brother and I threw a Mad Hatter Unbirthday Party. It was tons of fun, unfrotunately I only took one picture, at the very end of the party.
Apparently Nintendo brings everyone together
I have had the pleasure of spending a lot of time with friends lately, which has been wonderful. I live close (within an hour and a half) of all of them but haven't seen many of them for months, so is life I suppose, but it was lovely catching up. I am so blessed with so many amazing friends, far and near!
So that's me. Hope all of you are fabulous and enjoying April and the promise of Spring. Oh and since it's been forever since I have posted, yay for our "new" Pope Francis! I am loving all I have been hearing about him and his love of the poor.
My older brother has been living with me for the past couple of months. We're throwing a hero masquerade party tonight. It will be epic. He's decked out the apartment with pictures of "heroes" real and fictional including people like Xena, Gandhi, the Planeteers, Mother Teresa, the X-Men, Rosa Parks and Robin Hood. If you were coming what hero would you dress up as?
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The weather has been kind of crazy here. 70's for most of the week and now it's in the 40s and acting a bit more like fall. I do love fall. Me and my boyfriend went hiking last weekend (both Saturday and Sunday, I loved it!) and got to enjoy the lovely fallish weather and the end of the colors.
I finished "Heaven is Here" by Stephanie Nielson (of NieNie Dialogues) on my trip. I cried, a lot and I laughed, and I marveled at her strength and her faith and her family's. If you haven't read it you need to.
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See this strange looking pile. Well it's delicious in case you were wondering and it only has 3 ingredients. My boyfriend saw them make it on a show he was watching and decided we needed to make it to eat while watching (or rather listening to since my dumb tv didn't get the right station) the football game last Sunday. It's bacon, brown sugar and cayenne pepper. Candied bacon with a kick. He baked it for 10 minutes, flipped the bacon and put more brown sugar on the flipped side.
How cool is this?! Check out these awesome animals painted on hands.
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I don't know how you feel about Taylor Swift, but I really like some of her new stuff (not all of it), especially this song. Definitely not country, but I like it.
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I'm going to a friend's wedding tomorrow. I love weddings, and it's close by, which is awesome. I'm not in it so I get to sit back and enjoy the beautiful sacrament from the pew. It should be fun.
Alright, that's all from me for this lovely Friday. Enjoy the weekend!
Alright, since it's the end of August and I've been slacking on the whole actually posting regularly I thought I'd do another quick run through of my life, for all you interested folks and share some of the fun stuff I've been up to...
Remember This picnic blanketthat I was going to make? Well everything is cut out, but that's as far as I've gotten, so maybe I'll finish that in September...hopefully!
I've actually been making a lot of greeting cards. Yeah, I used to it all the time but got out of the habit, picking up a card is so much quicker, but not nearly as fun and personal. Some of my current inspirations have come from Busted Button.
This one I felt like everyone my age/within 10 years of my age, had read/was doing. I actually found it extremely helpful and I love that it is very Christian based.
What I've been doing to enjoy the Season of Summer.
Camping
I went with this cute boy over the weekend, and despite the rain it was a lot of fun.
Canoeing
Lots of Birthday Celebrations (Lots of good times at the Nitty Gritty)
Quality time with family and friends
So that's me. Hope all of you are fabulous and enjoying the end of August, end of Summer, and return to reality.
Put the oranges, lime or lemon, blueberries and strawberries, sugar and mint in a shaker and "muddle" (or smash up) the leaves, citrus and berries by pressing them with a pestle or a wooden spoon until juicy and fragrant. Add the Malib.u and ice. Cover with a cocktail
shaker and shake vigorously, or stir, until combined and chilled, about
30 seconds. (In general, by the time the shaker mists up the drink is
ready.) Enjoy.
I'm kind of excited for it to be finished, not excited to be cutting, ironing and pinning. The bottom is a table cloth so it's waterproof and has ties so it can be rolled up and secured :)
No theme this week. Just the randomness of my life :) Enjoy!
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This video is AWESOME! It's Strawberry Swing by Coldplay. Watch it and take in the awesomeness!
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I get to spend some good quality time with my family this weekend and next weekend as well as see this totally fabulous friend of mine that is visiting the Midwest. I'm super-excited.
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How can you not love this guy?!
Last weekend I went up to Holy Hill for Cardinal Dolan's Thanksgiving Mass, which was wonderful, and enjoyed some great time with friends as well as a relaxing Sunday enjoying the gorgeous grounds around the Basilica. It was a great weekend.
On the Holy Hill Grounds.
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I made these Strawberry White Chocolate Streusel Bars for our young adult group wrap-up and they were pretty great. Super sweet, but good and the best part was that I had all the ingredients on hand. Score!
The local Newman Center is hosting a Wine Fest tomorrow night, complete not only with wine tasting, but also beer tasting and food stations. It's one of their main fundraisers and I hear there will be close to 300 people there. I am excited to check it out, enjoy the company, food and drinks and hopefully a wonderful overall evening.
I am loving that it's garage sale season. I have already picked up some great stuff, such as the vinyl album above. Love it! It is such a peppy album.
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I finished listening to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and now I am almost done with Prince Caspian (evidently I am going through them in publication order verses chronological order, oops!). I actually like Prince Caspian better. I started listening to Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison but it was too much, a bit too real and depressing for my car rides so I switched back to children's books. Much better.
So it has been a crazy busy few weeks, but it has been wonderful. I was able to visit with a lot of dear friends from college last week/weekend and marvel at how we have all grown and changed. It is beautiful to see the life that God has laid out and to see how everyone is living out the life they are meant to live. God is good.
Sister Hazel, Green (Welcome to the World)~Which has nothing to do with anything but it's a fun song :)
It is a dark rainy day here so I am in a bit of a mellow mood. I am looking forward to the sun. To farmers markets and canoeing. But for now, I will enjoy the few trees that are still blooming, the tulips and the chirping birds of spring.
At this moment I am thankful for...
(1) Friends. I am so thankful that as I move along with the changes of life and adapt to the changes in myself that I have so many dear friends I can journey with. Grow with. Rely on. I am blessed!
(2) Easter Candy. I am thankful for Reese's Eggs, for Peeps and Malted Milk Eggs. And I am thankful that they are only a once a year thing and will shortly be gone from my apartment.
(3) The reminder that we are in the most joyful season of the year. As a friend said, "we should be partying everyday" for 50 days! Christ rose from the dead! Alleluia!
(4) Autobiographies and Biographies. I love learning about peoples' lives and we are so blessed to have so many books and movies about great individuals to inspire us. The saints, the great inventors, writers, thinkers of all time. Go be inspired!
(5) The crazy crew above. I teach the preschool Sunday school class at my church. This is about half of the kids. I am thankful for their enthusiasm (they really were excited, despite some of the faces in the picture), for their childlike faith, for their trust. And I'm thankful I only have them for an hour :)
(6) The unexpected. I am thankful for the surprises in life that prove I am loved, that prove God exists, that lead to new experiences and new friends. (No, there is not a current story that led to this comment, I'm just being nostalgic and expectant.)
(7) Plans. I am thankful that I have upcoming plans with friends. Plans that will include great food, fun games and of course some fabulous conversations.
Happy Easter! I love Easter. It's the party of the year. A season of rejoicing. A time to realize how strong we are and how blessed we are. A time reminder the good really does win out over evil. Love conquers all. Enjoy this time. Enjoy the beautiful person that God has created you to be and the wonderful people He has placed in your life.
On a totally different note...Have you seen this video? If not, you will in a second :) I love love love watching people play the guitar, and 5 different people playing at once, well it's pretty amazing and sounds surprisingly awesome.
Someone I Used to Know performed by Walk off the Earth
Just thought I'd share a bit of music love this lovely Tuesday. Enjoy the day!
Christmas is coming. Can you feel it? You can sure see it, but you could see it in early November. But now, now Advent has officially begun, December starts tomorrow and soon, all too soon we will be celebrating the birth of Christ :) I'm excited.
Last night I did a bit of decorating. Finally finished the above wreath (I got most of the ornaments in the post Christmas sales and the wreath base was from the lovely Dollar Tree). I've always loved ornament wreaths, but wanted to make sure to make one that was tasteful, not gaudy like many that I'd seen. I used a tutorial I'd found online to get me started (gotta love pinterest!) and now I have a lovely wreath :)
I've been all about "This Warm December" Christmas CD. I like the different twist on some of the old Christmas favorites and it's just a good mellow soundtrack to get you in the Christmas mood. Here's a little Rudolph love for all of you (from the CD):
I'm starting to put together a list of what I'm baking this year. I just love Christmas baking. There are just so many fabulous recipes and great twists on old recipes, it's just a lovely time to bake. Once I finalize things I'll share some of my favorite finds as well as my to bake list :) Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
So it's apparently winter here. After some gorgeous days, then some rain, we now have a blanket of snow and they're talking 50 degree weather this weekend! Seriously! What is a girl supposed to wear in weather like this?
Anyways, I've been thinking about the past year, how things have changed, what I've learned, where I see myself in the future, you know, that kind of pondering. So I thought I'd share a list today of things worth waiting for because no one should ever settle, whether it be in a relationship, in your job, in who you are. You're worth more than you could ever imagine, sometimes we need to remind ourselves of that.
Things Worth Waiting For
A significant other that makes you feel beautiful, even when you don't feel it.
A job you enjoy going to. Whether that be because of the people or because of the work you're doing.
A home. It's not the building that makes this, although a roof over your head is a necessity, it's a place that feels safe, a place full of love, a place of refuge, a place to call your own.
The seasons to change. God has blessed us with four beautiful, very different, seasons and each one is worth enjoying. Each one is beautiful.
Children. Children are a blessing, no matter how God gives them to us, but they are also something that I wish to have in a family setting, with a supportive husband. Children should never be thought of as a burden, a bargaining chip or a mistake.
Alright, so some of those were kind of deep, some not so much, but all of them are important, at least to me. On a lighter note, I just watched Justin Bieber's "Never Say Never" movie and I have to admit that I'm pretty impressed by the kid, and by his family deep faith that is remarkably visible in the movie. It makes you want to root for him, and maybe turn on one of his songs to dance to (please take a moment to break from your obligations and dance a little this snowy Thursday).
And since it is Thursday, here's my Thankful Thursday list for the day.
At this moment I am thankful for...
(1) A vehicle that can handle the rain/snow/ice. It's nice having a reliable vehicle and that that vehicle happens to be an suv sure doesn't hurt matters, especially with the winters we have up here.
(2) Options. Options as in I'm thankful I have multiple places I can go or people I can hangout with. In other words, I'm thankful that if I don't want to be home by myself I don't have to be :)
(3) Holidays. I've been making Thanksgiving and Christmas plans lately and am so excited to be able to take some time off and spend it with family.
(4) Girl Sc.out Cookies :) Up hear they were delivered this week and yes I have already had a few. I really think they're so great only because you get them once a year. Its genius actually. And better for my waistline too ;)
(5) Craft Stores. It's true, I love places like JoAnn's, Michaels and Hobby Lobby. Just walking in makes me smile and if I have a bit of spending money, well that's even better :)
(6) Handwritten Letters. I grew up writing letters to my grandparents every week and my mom still writes each of us kids each week. It's something I try to do and something that is always appreciated. Also, I just watched a cheesy Halmarkesque movie called "The Christmas Card" which I of course loved and made me want to go out and write a letter or message in a card.
(7) Snow. It's true, I am thankful for snow. I'm excited about all the fun that snow brings, not the bad roads and cold temps, but the other stuff, the skiing and sledding, snowballs and ice skating. Nights curled up by the fire watching the peacefulness of a gentle snow.
Last night I had the chance to go to a pretty great concert. Some friends of mine offered me a ticket, and seriously, who turns down free concert tickets? Anyways, the headlining band was Casting Crowns, which was great in itself, but the opening act, well they were Lindsey McCaul, The Afters and Sanctus Real, which were pretty great. Sanctus Reel sings one of my favorite songs at the moment, it's called Lead Me. This song has such a great message one we should all take to heart and one that many of us yearn for. Check it out, it's pretty great.
The adorable mascots of Irish Fest dancing along with the band.
I had the pleasure of attending the Irish Fest in Milwaukee, WI over the weekend. If you live in the Midwest, or happen to be passing through in late August when the festival is taking place I highly recommend that you take the time to check it out. It's a weekend full of fantastic bands, food, Irish shops and activities and of course s bit of beer. Last year I went with a friend all day Saturday and this year, because of the weather, I ended up going with some friends on Sunday. I'm thinking that Sunday was actually better. We started the day with Mass at the Marcus Amphitheater and then spent the day wandering the grounds, eating and listening to music, watching the always amazing Trinity Dancers and just enjoying everything Irish :)
One of the bands I was most looking forward to hearing were the High Kings. They're pretty amazing. I found them right after I got back from Ireland while I was searching for some of the songs I'd heard in the pubs over there. They had the best versions and their harmonies are pretty great as well :)
Although I came in with the High Kings at the top of my list I left with the band below taking that spot, or at least tying for top honors on my list. Scythian, although they aren't from Ireland, were a down right awesome group of musicians that had the whole audience dancing and clapping, jumping and singing.
They're one of those bands that you can tell are having fun. That they love what they do. I love watching groups like that.
Look at the intensity! Kinda cute too ;)
I'm going to leave you with a video of one of the songs the High Kings performed (Rocky Road to Dublin), just so you have a taste, which may encourage you to go to the fest if you have the chance or catch one of the bands if they're passing through your town...
Oh, and just for fun here's Gaelic Storm's "Kiss Me I'm Irish" which is just fun. I caught the end of Gaelic Storm's performance and I fell in love with this song. Enjoy, and happy Monday!
