Lead Me

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.

Happy weekend everyone!

Go With the Flow

So this weekend did not go as planned. And guess what, it ended up being a wonderful weekend. To make a long story short, Friday I was supposed to go to an A Cappella concert, which ended up being sold out so I instead ended up going out with a group of friends to watch the Brewers and Cardinals play. Saturday I originally had a completely free day, but ended up helping some friends of mine move into their lovely new home (through all the chaos, stress and work of moving it's beautiful to see the excitement and contentment of a couple sitting in their 1st house, dreaming of all the memories that will be made there). Sunday I was supposed to go flying with my cousin and boyfriend, but the wind decided to pick-up (which would not have made for a very fun ride), so instead I spent the day watching football (6-0!! :), getting the grand tour of the lovely town of Prairie du Chien and laying out under the stars. It was a lovely weekend.

Picture from my trip to Ireland

So I was thinking. How wonderful the unexpected can be. We (at least I) spend so much of our time organizing and scheduling our lives, when often life takes over and our plans, well they don't quite go as planned. During these times of unexpected change I need to remember to enjoy it, to thank God for reminding me that I am not in charge (thank goodness!) and to (as my dad would say) just go with the flow. Here's to having a random going with the flow sort of day. Enjoy it!

Books, Food, Sewing and Being Thankful

So I've done a bit of sewing, a bit of reading and a bit of baking so this will be a fun catch-up post on what I've been up to lately.

If you guys are anything like me, you have (I had :) a stack of old t-shirts from high school and or college of various groups/sports you were in, trips you'd taken, etc. For the past, oh 5 years or so I've been working on a t-shirt quilt made up of all my old high school shirts, at least the ones that held memories I wanted to remember. I made up my own pattern (since the square sizes varied so much depending on the decals/designs on the shirts) and set to work. I'm happy with the finished product, but in the future (if I ever decide to tackle my college t-shirts or make one for someone else) I'll definitely use backing on the t-shirts (some of them stretched a lot), do a bit more basting (I really just wanted to finish), and maybe break-up the back a bit more (I just used a solid cotton print and had the same thick border that I used on the front of the quilt). But anyways, it's done, it's soft and warm, and it reminds me of some great times from high school.

photo from Tasty Kitchen Blog

I made the above cookies the other night because 1) I had a free night and I tend to bake/cook when I have free time, 2) I was out of cookies and in fact desserts in the house 3) I had all the ingredients in the house (always a plus) and 4) it's fall so I needed some fall food and these just looked and sounded, well perfect. Let me tell you, they were simple and are pretty darn tasty. Definitely a keeper of a recipe. Seriously, who could resist White Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cookies? Not I!

picture from Connally Gilliam's website

In the begining of the summer I wrote this post on what I was currently reading. Sadly out of the 6 books I only ended up finishing 2:

1. Revelations of a Single Woman: loving the life I didn't expect by Connally Gilliam
2. Jesus: Man of Prayer by Kevin Perrotta

Both books were great. I absolutely loved Revelations of a Single Woman. There were such great insites, for both singles and those in relationships and it was filled with things we've all thought, but it was nice to know that I wasn't the only one.

I'm still reading through A Man of the Beatitudes by Lucianna Frassati. It's really not a long book, but I only read a chapter here and there and so it's taking me a while to finish, but everytime I pick it up I'm struck by what an amazing man Blessed Pierre Georgio Frassati was and how much we can all learn from this amazing young adult. The other three books are on the backburner and I'll get to...sometime.

Over the summer I did end up reading (and finishing!) The Pioneer Woman: Black Heels to Tractor Wheels by Ree Drumond and One Day by David Nicholls. Both were quick reads, I wanted some light fiction and that's pretty much what they were. One Day was just out in theaters recently, so I wanted to read the book before seeing the movie (I've yet to see the movie, but at least I'm done with the book) and I love the Pioneer Woman's blog and had already read part of her love story on her blog and so I was eager to read the full extended version. It was cute and light. I also did a study on A Biblical Walk Through the Mass by Dr. Edward Sri. I highly recommend it to any Catholics out there who want a better understanding of what goes on at Mass and why. I highly recommend it to any noncatholic out there who would like a better understanding of what goes on at a Catholic Mass and why.

Currently I'm reading:

1. Heaven is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent
2. Zen and the Art of Needlecraft: Exploring the Links Between Needlecraft, Spirituality, and Creativity by Sandra Detrixhe
3. Proverbs: Wisdom for Living by Kevin Perrotta

Heaven is for Real is one of those books that has been circulating around the christian circles this year and I've heard it come up so many times in conversation so I thought I'd read it. Zen and the Art of Needlecraft my aunt wrote, so it's been siting on my shelf for a while and so I finally have a chance to read it. And Proverbs: Wisdom for Living we're doing in my young adult group, so far so good.

I know this is a long post, but I'm still going to do a quick Thankful Thursday list, since it's been a while since I've done one and there are always things to be thankful for!

At this moment I am thankful for...

(1) A great boyfriend. It's nice to know I'm thought of and loved and every girl needs a bit of pampering now and then. I'm thankful for a great guy who spoils me just enough.

 

(2) Hot chocolate/Hot apple cidar. There's nothing better than curling up on the couch with a warm mug in your hand, a blanket over your lap and a great movie playing on the tv.

 

(3) Family. My lovely aunt retired last week and so there was a little party for her on Saturday. There were coworks and friends but also we had a little family reunion, so it was nice to just sit and chat and enjoy each other's company.

 

(4) The Farmer's Market. I know this has made my list before, but my cousin and I went Saturday morning and I have to tell you, I'm extremely thankful to live in a city that offers such a great market every week and there's such a great turnout too. I'm always happy to support the local farmers!

 

(5) A free night. Amazingly enough I had two free nights this week, so I'm super excited to spend tonight...cooking, at least that's the plan ;) Tonight is definitely a soup night!

 

(6) Fall colors. I love living where all the trees (well not ALL of them, but you know what I mean) change to reds and oranges and yellows signifying yet another season has arrived. It's beautiful.

 

(7) Friends, near and far. Last night I got to catch-up with a friend from high school and couple nights before a friend from town called up and we went out for a little movie night. I love having friends close by to make last minute plans with as well as friends who have known me throughout everything, whether that's elementry/high school, college or anything and everything else. My friends keep me sane and sometimes crazy, but I love them all and couldn't imagine life without them :)

 

Happy Thursday everyone! Go out and cook/bake something, sew something, read something or just enjoy fall!

Brotherly Love

It's been back to back brother weekends for me and I've loved every moment of it! My younger brother came up last weekend and we spent Saturday at the Fireside Theatre. The Fireside is a lovely dinner theatre about 50 minutes from my apartment. We had an excellent lunch (the above picture was taken at our table, ceiling mirrors can be so fun :) and then after perusing the shops we headed in to watch the show.

Yep, the musical we saw was Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Such a fabulous and fun musical it was pretty fabulous. I loved the movie and the actors did such a great job. It was quite the nice little Saturday afternoon.

After the show it was back for dinner and then of course over to a friend's to watch the Badger vs. Husker game. It was quite the sports weekend here in Wisconsin and all in all we fared pretty darn well. I had a packed Sunday and my brother left me early in the morning to continue his journey to see friends. It's always nice having company and I do love my family, we're all pretty special ;)

Happy Wednesday Everyone!



Chi Town

So I spent most of the weekend visiting my lovely older brother (this was taken at his favorite restaurant in Chinatown). He lives in downtown Chicago and every time I visit we always go exploring in a different part of the city. This trip took us to the Wicker Park area that just has some pretty darn fabulous shops (there were tons of cute retail shops and I picked up this adorable red pea coat, love it!) along with great eateries and coffee shops. We stopped at the Worm Hole, which is a throw back to the '80's, complete with an original Nintendo system (that we of course played for a few hours) and all kinds of memorabilia from the time.

When you first walk in the door you are immediately greeted by the car from the Back to the Future movies (which is evidently called the De Lorean). Just a bit of fun :)

Our next adventure took us to Chicago's Chinatown. We had a fabulous lunch (see 1st picture ;) followed by a bit of window shopping and of course pictures by our Zodiac animal.

I have a tradition. Every time I visit my brother I always bring some sort of barcookie. Sometimes there's beer or cheese that also make the trip, but there is always a pan of barcookies. I think it started when I was still in high school and I would always be asked to make said cookies, usually sometime late at night after we'd been talking on one of his visits home. I have an old standby that I usually make, it's just an adaptation from the Tollhouse chocolate chip cookie recipe, but recently I had stumbled across this AMAZING recipe and had to try it. Let me tell you, it was pretty great, uber sweet, obviously, but oh so good.

S'more Cookie Bars

They are definitely now on my go to list, especially for fall events, after all, who doesn't love s'mores? And a whole pan of them, come on!

Alright, so that's what I've been up to lately, cooking and traveling, surprise, surprise :) I hope you are all enjoying your week, it's almost halfway through (yep, it's going to be a long one).



Fall?!

SOURCE

It's officially fall and I have to say that I'm a bit excited about that. Summer was packed full with friends and family, canoeing and camping, swimming and grilling out and so much more. Fall brings with it the beautiful changing leaves, apple and pumpkin picking, bonfires and hayrack rides, hoodies and hot apple cider. I love the beginning of every season. The change in temperature, the change in nature, the different activities that go along with that season. I'll hopefully do a summer wrap up when I have a bit more time, but for now, enjoy the crisp autumn air and a glass of apple cider.  Happy Fall!

Thankful Thursday!

It has been an extremely long time since I've done a Thankful Thursday, and I have had such a fabulous summer that there's so much to be thankful for, so here's my list...

At this moment I am thankful for...

(1) Amazing weather. It has been absolutely gorgeous here the past few days, the hint of fall is in the air. I just love it!

 

 

(2) An adorable and healthy Godson (I love this picture, especially his excited older sister on the far right). My cute little Godson turned 2 over the weekend and I was blessed be be able to celebrate with him and his family.  

 

 

(3) Football!!! I got to go to a Badger football game last week (is was packed by the end of the 1st quarter) and, well, it was pretty great. I love college games because of the school spirit. The Packers open up their season tonight. So excited.

 

(4) Friends. I was blessed with the opportunity of spending sometime at a friend's house on the lake with a group of friends form the area. It was such a nice and relaxing time with great conversation, good food, fun games and great people.

 

(5) The American heart. As the Anniversary of September 11th draws nearer I've been hearing some of the tragic stories from that day, but also the hope of the future, the story of the beautiful memorial that has been built and the beauty of the fact that this day will be a tribute to those who tragically died and they will live on in the hearts of a nation who will continue to mourn them but has also grown closer as a nation.

 

(6) That I no longer have to hear that Brett Favre has officially retired, no wait he's returning, no wait he's really retired this time....

 

(7) A good meal. Whether it's eating out or something I cooked at home, I'm thankful that I have the means to fill my stomach when needed and live in an area where I can quickly drive to a place that serves whatever my heart desires. I'm pretty spoiled and am extremely thankful for that luxary.