Thankful Thursday

Life has been pretty great around here, and with Spring finally showing it's face there is much to be thankful in my life, so I thought I'd revive my Thankful Thursdays (at least for this week...)

At this moment I am thankful for...

 

(1) Wedding Planning, and not being overwhelmed..yet. 6 months to go and things are coming together and I'm thankful that everything seems to be falling into place.

 

 (2) Friends that are full of joy and make me want to be more joyful. I am blessed to have many wonderful friends that show the joy of Christ to others on a daily basis. It's the Easter Season, we should all be more joyful.

Alright, so these are my brothers (not technically just friends) but this picture is so joyful. Love it!

(3) The quirky devotions of the Catholic faith. I went to a talk earlier this week entitled "Quirky but Beloved Prayer Practices". It was about the origin of some of the various devotions that are practiced (or used to be practiced) in the Catholic Church. It was fascinating and it was fun to here what others grew up doing in their families or communities. We talked about praying to St. Anthony to find lost things, burying St. Joseph when trying to sell a house, dressing the Infant of Prague and much more. The origins of all these practices, the stories of why certain saints became the patrons of the things they are is so interesting. Love it!

 

(4) Graduations. I have a good friend who just graduated with her nursing degree and my fiance is graduating on Saturday. I love to see people succeed and am so thankful for all those who follow their dreams.

Follow your dreams, even if it involves taking a picture with a giant mouse.

 

(5) Thunderstorms. We've had a lot of rain this week, which is great for the farmers. I love thunderstorms (as long as I'm not driving in them), I love to hear the rain coming down and see the lightning. It's a beautiful reminder of God's power.

 

(6) Letters. My mom writes all of us kids a letter every week. I love hearing about the news from back home, what her and dad are up to, what the neighbor did, etc. I'm so thankful for a mother who puts such a strong emphasis on staying in touch with those you love.

My mom and dad riding a jackalope at Wall Drug in South Dakota.         Blowing bubbles at my sister's wedding reception.

(7) Growing plants. I planted some spinach and salad mix seeds the beginning of the month and I love seeing their little green leaves peaking out of the soil. There was an unwanted squirrel who decided to dig around a bit the other day, but I suppose I should be thankful even for squirrels and that I live in a place that they can jump from tree to tree.

Alright, that's it for me. Enjoy the rest of your Thursday! What are you thankful for today?

Five Favorites (vol. 1)

It's been a while since I posted so I thought I'd join Hallie over at MoxieWife for her Five Favorites link up.

Here's my 5 favorite pics from some awesome adventures over the past couple of months.

(1)

 One of my best friends got married a couple of weeks ago. Even though this shot is blurry I love the look on their faces.

(2)

This is the crew I hung out with the weekend of the wedding. 4 different states, all awesome people.

(3)

 

Easter Sunday I was blessed to become Godmother for this beautiful little boy. This is the first time I met him, a week before he was baptized.

(4)

I love the water, I love the ocean and lakes and rivers and just being near it all. I got to visit this lovely friend out in South Carolina and so we of course spent lots of time walking along the beach. It's cold, yes, but we still walked for hours.

(5)

Also when I was in South Carolina we visited Charleston Tea Plantation. This picture shows some lovely Spanish moss and the tea plants in the background. Tea is awesome and tea grown in America is even better ;)

(Bonus)

Another dear dear friend (my maid of honor) is getting married in less than a month! We had a great shower with some beautiful friends, it's always fun to get together with these women!

Head on over to MoxieWife for more favorites!

7 Quick Takes (vol. 19)

Another week come and gone, and Lent is here to stay for a while. Here's some randomness from my week.

~~ 1 ~~

So I started Reading this book

 image from here

And it's great. Even though I'm not married yet it's has some great exercises to do with your significant other and I love that it's based on years and years and years of research. It's fascinating!

~~ 2 ~~

Did anyone else read hardcore depressing books in middle school and Jr. High? I was all about Lurlene McDaniel. This article is spot on and cracked me up.

~~ 3 ~~

Super exciting news! So Venerable Fulton Sheen is one step closer to becoming a Blessed and then a Saint (God willing)! 

James' alleged "miracle" is one step closer to being recognized as a miracle by the church!

Head over to Bonnie's Blog for the full story and press release from the Archbishop Sheen Foundation.

~~ 4 ~~

So it feels like Spring! I don't want to jinx it but I am all for it and can't wait for this again

fresh flowers sound amazing!

~~ 5 ~~

Speaking of spring...I love the idea of growing a garden with a them. For example: a pizza garden or salsa garden. I'm great with herbs so maybe I should add tomatoes this year. The promise of Spring is exciting :)

~~ 6 ~~

One of the things I'm doing for Lent this year is being more present in my prayers. I found myself "multitasking" while saying some of my prayers throughout the day, so this Lent I'm sitting still, often closing my eyes and actually focusing on the words I'm saying. I should probably apply this to other aspects of my life as well. Being present is important and whomever I am talking to, whether it's God, a friend or my fiance, they deserve my attention. They are worth it.

~~ 7 ~~

My brother is throwing a Mad Hatter party tonight. So I'm off to that.

hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

For more Quick Takes, head on over to Conversion Diary.

7 Quick Takes (vol. 18)

Alright, so it's Friday (finally) and I'm super excited for a weekend...with no plans! Yep, I'm off to spend it with my fiance but other than that it's a clean slate. I'm excited. Here's my random list for the moment...

~~ 1 ~~

So I made these last night

image and recipe from here

Yep, Blueberry Donuts. They're pretty great. I left off the glaze (I can't handle too much sugar in the morning) and the recipe made 1 pan (6 donuts) of the full size donuts and 1 pan (12 donuts) of the mini donuts (the minis I baked at 350 for 8 minutes). If you haven't made homemade donuts, you should. They're easy and oh so yummy.

~~ 2 ~~

 I finished "Dear Mr. Knightley" last night and loved it! This is the 2nd book in a row (the first being "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society") that I have finished which are the only books the author has written.  I want more, more from these characters I've come to love. Anyone else ever feel like that? 

~~ 3 ~~

There is a lot of cute wedding stuff and there is also a lot of ugly wedding stuff out there. Since I'm getting married at the end of the year I've been browsing everything from cake stands to floral arrangements. There's something to be said for simplicity.

~~ 4 ~~

image from here

Lent is next week. That's crazy, and also kind of awesome. I was talking with a couple of friends last night about how great the season of Lent is. I'm not sure exactly when I switched from dreading Lent and the idea of giving up something I loved to loving the idea of sacrificing so that I can grow stronger in my faith and closer to God. Whenever it happened, I'm glad it did.

~~ 5 ~~

So I'm on the search for lunches that I can take along to work in the morning (salads and wraps are great for only so long). Any favorites? This living 35 minutes from work put a stop to my going home to eat on my lunch break. 

 ~~ 6 ~~

 I'm ready for a road trip, a change in scenery. Thankfully I'm finalizing plans for a trip the end of March. Bring on the grown-up spring break (more sleep, great conversation, awesome new adventures).

 ~~ 7 ~~

Have an awesome weekend! It's Friday Night! Does anyone else ever miss TGIF on ABC?  I'm sure the shows wouldn't be as good if I watched them again, but still, best night ever!

For more Quick Takes, head on over to Conversion Diary.

What I've Been Up To (The Sunny February Edition)

What I've been reading.

Dear Mr. Knightley: A Novel
by Katherine Reay

image from here

May Crowning, Mass, and Merton: 50 Reasons I Love Being Catholic

by Liz Kelly

 image from here

What I've been baking

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes

image and recipe from here

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.

French Macarons

I used Nutella as the filling

Mango Chutney

Image from here 

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.

The Professor and the Madman

by Simon Winchester

image from here

This story was so interesting. It's about the true story of one of the main contributors to the Oxford English Dictionary.

 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle

by Edward Irving Wortis

 image from here.

I loved this story. It's a great adventure story, something I wanted to keep listening to until the end.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

 Image from here.

This book was wonderful! It is definitely one of my favorite books, and the audio book was so well done.

Dad is Fat

by Jim Gaffigan

image from here.

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!

7 Quick Takes (vol. 17) Awesome Recipe Edition

I have been loving all the fabulous end of summer/beginning of fall produce and (finally!) the awesome fall weather! Here are a few of the recipes I've made lately and loved (7 Quick Takes Style ;)

 

 ~~ 1 ~~ 

Peach Cobbler Bars

 So I canned peaches with a friend and this recipe was the perfect use for some of them.

These are great for a little handheld snack for football parties or other fall get togethers. Simple to make too.

~~ 2 ~~

Zucchini Nutella Swirl Muffins

Oh my goodness I absolutely loved this recipe!! The flavor was amazing and because the only chocolate is the little bit of Nutella on top it wasn't over powering. A must try if you're looking for a good use of your zucchini.

 

~~ 3 ~~

One-Pan Pasta

 

image from marthastewart.com

I made a smaller version of this for supper the other night, added some zucchini and black olives to the finished pasta and it was pretty amazing. (I used this awesome Italian pasta that I got at Pike's Market when I was in Washington, which just made the recipe even better.)

 

~~ 4 ~~

Fruit Crumble

So I am absolutely loving Daphne Oz's cookbook "Relish", that's where you can find this recipe. I am really into coconut oil at the moment (I found a bottle at Marshalls, who knew?!). This is a simple crisp recipe that you bake in single serving ramekins. Top with vanilla ice cream and they are awesome! I made it the first time with strawberries and rhubarb and the second with peaches and strawberries. Both were great.

~~ 5 ~~

No Bake Energy Balls

 

These were a great pick-me-up snack that I didn't feel quite as guilty eating. They kept great in the fridge for a week or two. I left out the pumpkin seeds and flax seed and they were still yummy.

~~ 6 ~~

My Mom's Potato Salad

There are a ridiculous amount of varieties of potato salad. I grew up on this one and so I'm a bit biased, but I like it because it's simple, you can actually taste the potatoes and it's an easy base recipe if you want to add anything (plus it uses celery salt instead of celery, which is fabulous for those of us that aren't too fond of celery).

 

 

~~ 7 ~~

I don't have another new recipe that I've made lately (that I liked enough to share), so I suppose you get 6 instead of 7.

I'm off to Nebraska this weekend for some awesome family time. I get to see my awesome sister sister at her convent :)

I hope you all enjoy the weekend!

For more Quick Takes, head on over to Conversion Diary.

7 Quick Takes (vol. 16) or What I Learned Traveling Cross Country with my Boyfriend...

So August 5-13 my boyfriend and I road tripped from Wisconsin to Seattle, Washington. It was awesome, I loved it. Here are a few things I learned along the way.

 

 ~~ 1 ~~

Long trips are more fun if your travel-mate is willing to pose for random pictures

pictures taken at the Frontier Village in Jamestown, ND

 At Salem Sue, New Salem, ND

 

and take them!

~~ 2 ~~

At the Crab Pot in Bellevue, WA

"When in Rome do as the Romans do" or in our case, when on the coast eat lots of seafood. Oh and don't be afraid to try something new.

 

~~ 3 ~~

If something sounds cool, stop.

 

Jeremiah saw a sign for the Theodore Roosevelt National Park so we stopped.

The view was gorgeous!

~~ 4 ~~

Take time to have fun.

 Jeremiah skipping rocks at Glacier National Park, evidently he's an excellent rock skippper.

~~ 5 ~~

It's ok to be touristy

 At Pike Place Market in Seattle, WA

At the Space Needle (their cheesy pictures they take of everyone then you choose the background)

~~ 6 ~~

Just do it, don't ask questions don't think about it just do it

Do the fun random things that the locals do, or the fun and random things that the tourists do, either way, just do it.

~~ 7 ~~

Eat good food (preferably local food)

 Evening snack of brie+local fudge+local wine = awesome!

 Eating Huckleberry Ice Cream.

That's the very condensed version of my trip. I hope you are all enjoying your August!

For more Quick Takes, head on over to Conversion Diary.