A Lenten Prayer: Day 2

Tis the season for Lent. I found this prayer especially moving to me for today. I've been feeling so overwhelmed lately and this is just what I needed. Funny how things happen like that...

A Lenten Prayer for Thursday taken from Creighton University

Lord, Let everything I do this day and in this season of Lent come from you, be inspired by you.
I long to be closer to you. Help me to remember that nothing is important in my life unless it glorifies you in some way. It's so easy to get caught up in the day to day of my life and keep saying, "Tomorrow, I will spend more time in prayer," but now my longing meets your love and I want to do it now. Help me to rely on you for help. The prayer asks you that I reach perfection. Please, Lord, remind me that "perfection" isn't the crazy, "successful" way I try to live my life, but a perfection of my most authentic, real self. My "perfection" might be holding my many flaws in my open hands, asking you to help me accept them. Heal me, Lord, and help me to find you in the darkness of my life. Let me reach out in this darkness and feel your hand and love there to guide me.

Baking in the Egg

We've been enjoying our time with our newest family member, The Big Green Egg. We have yet to give it a "proper" name as it has not yet revealed wether it's a boy or a girl. Yes, we're strange that way... The kids like to name inanimate objects and then we start calling these objects by their name. My car is named "Black Dragon." Matt's truck is named "Black Bart." Uncle Adam's car is named "Red Dragon." And Tita Lisa's car is named "Honda."

We also name our stuffed animals. Among our stuffed animal collection we have: Velcro, Paint-Can, Dragony, Taggie Lion, Polka Dots, Marilyn the Sock Monkey and Google. I know this is a normal thing for children to do, but I think it's funny that as time goes on, we parents start to call these things by their given name. It's no longer "Let's get in the car! We're late for school!" It's "Black Dragon is waiting... We're late for school!" 

So as we spend more and more time with The Big Green Egg, surely it's name will reveal itself. Soon... 

We're learning more and more about our Egg and obviously it makes for a wonderful smoker and grill. We want to use it to it's fullest capacity, so we decided to try baking in it. Matt found a wonderful recipe for a peach cobbler called Queenie's Peach Cobbler. It calls for baking in a cast iron skillet. The only thing we modified was the baking method from oven to Egg. 

Queenie's Peach Cobbler a la mode

Before 

After

Almost gone!

It is such an easy recipe to make and it turned out so delicious! I'm thinking of using the basic recipe to make some sort of bread pudding. Yum! I'm so excited to learn that it truly is possible to bake in the Egg! This will really make summertime baking easier. Hooray!

Something Laid a Big Green Egg in the Backyard

A Big Green Egg!

I swear we are the luckiest family with the most thoughtful, gracious friends. With Butters' upcoming separation from the Navy and a belated birthday gift, some of our closest friends pulled together and bought him a Big Green Egg. It was the mother of all gifts and we are blown away by their generosity.

Since last summer, just about every weekend we grilled or smoked some meaty goodies and shared our tasty meals in a potluck of sorts. Everyone brings something and we all enjoy one another's company. A few months ago we talked about saving up and buying a Big Green Egg. Matt and I had decided that, though it was a big investment, it would be worth it. Matt had sharpened his meat smoking skills and everyday we would have leftover meat to eat that was as good as the day it was made. We were already consistently using the grill, so why not upgrade to an Egg? Well with all of the traveling, job hunting and interviews Matt has had to go on, we put the thought of a big purchase on the back burner and focused on downsizing and saving our pennies. We didn't give the Egg another thought...

It wasn't until the day before Matt was to come home from a trip that his buddies texted me about having to "drop off a box." I really didn't think anything of it until they finally came to the door. There was something awkward about them and the conversation. I just expected to take the box and say goodbye. They explained to me what they had bought for Matt and I was totally speechless. I'd never seen men, especially manly Navy men, get all sentimental about one another! I've always known that Matt held them in high regard (dare I say it, they are his BFF's) but I'd never heard them vocalize their appreciation for Matt and how important Matt's friendship is to them. It was really nice to see and hear it.

Matt was taken aback by the whole thing and I still think he's in awe. I also think he feels a little undeserving of such a gift. But the fact of the matter is that his buddies really put some thought into what Matt would want and get use out of. And boy, have we put it to work!

It's still raining here, but that didn't deter Matt from stoking up the charcoal and putting some chicken and ribs in the Egg. We've had the thing burning since 11am and we're going to keep it going overnight. For lunch, we had some delicious grilled chicken legs with French bread from the oven. For dinner we had smoked ribs and roasted cauliflower topped with parmesan cheese. I added some carrots to the roasted cauliflower so that the kids would be more interested in eating it!

Sophie's Roasted Cauliflower & Carrots

Stoney observing our dinner

I have to admit, the food off the Egg was better tasting and more juicy than food we'd had off the grill. It was ridiculous good! 

We are truly blessed to have wonderful friends. Being a Navy family really exposes you to new friendships and also expands your family in ways that are always joyful and miserable at the same time. It's like your own biological family, only you don't have the same parents. We are a huge web of friends and though we always go our separate ways sometimes we return together again. When it's time for the Russell family to move on, I hope they return to us. Because for us, it's time to be permanent while they will continue to be transient. 

Best Friends Forever.

"Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything."
-Muhammad Ali-

Blueberry Muffin Mix + Doughnut Pan = Delicious Fun!

It's been raining here for just about 2 days now and it's a terrible thing that we can't go play outside. At least go play outside and without getting wet, muddy and possibly injured from slipping on the wet concrete. The kids finished their homework early and we decided to bake a little fun!

I bought myself a doughnut pan for Valentine's Day and I'm thinking that this will be a delightful love affair. I like the thought of baking my own doughnuts in a more healthy manner. I also like that feeling of satisfaction of baking something I am craving instead of the instant gratification of driving to Krispy Kreme on a whim. Besides, I loathe driving in torrential rain... I have to admit that I was scared to bake in the doughnut pan. I usually bake my muffins and cupcakes in stoneware, so this was a bit different for me. I got over that fear real quick.

On this chilly, rainy day, we wanted to make doughnuts. Doughnuts with coffee for me. Doughnuts with milk for the girls. I found some wonderful basic, no-frills recipe here. I don't usually have shortening on hand, so we opted for some boxed blueberry muffin mix. I let the kids mix everything up and we put the batter into a ziplock baggie. I piped the batter into the doughnut pan and popped it into the oven. 12 minutes later, we were enjoying some delicious goodies!

Blueberry Cake Doughnuts sans glaze. They were sweet enough!

I learned a lot about baking from scratch while researching doughnut recipes. Did you know that regular all purpose flour is different from cake flour and that those two are different from pastry flour? It's true! Did you know that you can substitute butter for shortening? But depending on what you are making, the consistency and flavor may be different. That was why I decided not to bake the doughnuts from scratch. I've always known that you have to be pretty precise when baking, but when you really get down to it, it's a science! I think that's so exciting!

It's raining again today. I think I should bake more doughnuts!

"Give me liberty or... Oooo! A jelly doughnut!"

-Homer Simpson-

Valentine's Day! (Finally)

Just Dropping By To Say Happy Valentine's Day! 

This morning, Lily read me my fortune from her home-made cootie catcher and my fortune read:

"You will get to eat your favorite food today."

Luckily today was Valentine's Day and I got to have a few Hershey's Kisses! Also, since I get to make dinner every night, I made our favorite shrimp and pasta dish: Penne a la Betsy via the Pioneer Woman.

Mmmm... Yummy!!

I knew today was going to be a busy one, which was unfortunate since I'm as sick as a dog. I somehow made it through teaching a class this morning and ate a few bites of lunch at the school with Lily and 2 of her classmates. A quick trip to the grocery store and I was back at the school for the Valentine's Day parties. 


Sophie got to make her own box at home and Lily's class made their bags together at school. Do you like the Pokeball she drew on it? I love that!

School parties are always fun! You get to play games and socialize. There's always some sort of junk food you get to eat. Even the parents that get to attend enjoy seeing their kids during their daytime routines. It always amazes me to see how the children react to their teachers even with all of the commotion. Children are conditioned to listen to their teachers and it's fun to see one teacher take control of a whole classroom with the clap of the hands. 

My Sweet Valentine's!

Even though I felt lousy, I'm glad I got to see the kids enjoy their Valentine's Day parties. It was a busy day, but getting to see the girls enjoy my presence in the classroom made it all worthwhile. Now it's time for me to kick back, relax, and drink some tea!

"I resolve to lose 10 pounds... And then gain it all back by Valentine's Day!"-Homer Simpson-

Just Because

Just because I felt like it. I made little cheesecakes in jars...

I really wanted to bake something and after taking stock of what I had in the fridge and pantry, I went online and searched for something yummy to bake.

I found a really great, wonderful, easy recipe using what I had on hand. I found Cheesecakes in Jars. Hooray!

Most of you who know me well, also know that I have a nasty addiction with buying, collecting, or hoarding Mason jars. It started when we first moved to Pensacola, FL over 10 years ago. I was given flowers in a Mason jar from my counter manager on my first day of working at the Estee Lauder counter at Dillard's. I don't know what it was, but I was really taken by these funny jars. The flowers were placed in the jar, which only had the screw band on it, not the lid. She decorated it with ribbon and attached a card welcoming me to the team. I thought it was so neat!

I still have that Mason jar and for the past 10 years it has been a container for my make-up brushes. It sits in the bathroom and I look at it everyday. I admire these jars. They are visually pleasing to me.

So the prospect of baking cheesecakes in little 4oz Mason jars had me really excited! Not only did I have all of the ingredients on hand, I also had the containers in which they would bake. Exciting!

The original recipe yields 24, but I only had 2 packages of cream cheese so I cut the recipe in half. For your information, half of 3/4 cup of sugar roughly equates to 6 Tbs. I had to use my math skills to figure that one out!

When we lived in Oklahoma, someone had told me to use a melon baller or a cookie dough spoon to transfer batter to it's container. Ever since I was told that little tid bit, I always spoon that way. It is easier to make cupcakes this way and less messy too!

See how easy?

After I spooned the batter and baked for 30 minutes, the kids and I got to have a little treat! We shared some with our neighbors who gave me wine in exchange. Yes, that's a mighty fair trade.

Some had strawberries, some had dark chocolate shavings and all were good! You should make some now too. Enjoy!

Cheesecakes in Jars from The Italian Dish

Make it, eat it and pin it.

"Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first."

- Ernestine Ulmer-

Four Hearts, Full Life, and my Favorite Strawberry Jam

One of my favorite things to do for my girls is make their school lunches. I don't usually do anything super special, but I do like to make their food fun and healthy. Last Summer while on my crusade to learn more about urban homesteading, I picked up a book by Ashley English at the library. It was called, Canning and Preserving. They say you should never judge a book by it's cover, but there was a slight vintage-y feel to this one and I thought that maybe I'd be interested in, well, canning and preserving. The book had obviously been checked out dozens of times. I could tell by the dog eared recipes and random food stains left on the pages from the canning process. I was lucky to have been able to stumble upon this gem!

I also picked up a book titled, The Complete Book of Small-Batch Preserving.

I liked the term "small-batch" because it sounded less threatening. Like if I totally messed up a recipe I wouldn't end up with a pantry full of peach bourbon jam that had too much of a "bourbon" taste and not enough peach. Unfortunately, this had actually happened... But I digress...

Strawberry season was coming to an end and my first recipe to try by Ashley English was her Strawberry and Vanilla Sauce. It turned out so amazing and we had so many uses for it! We ate it with waffles, ice cream, crepes, bread and brie. Not at all overpowering and so simple and easy to make! It was this recipe alone that gave me the boost to learn how to can faster and more efficiently and to try fun new recipes.

Which brings me to the Peach Bourbon Jam debacle... It wasn't the recipe, it was ME and my choice of improper ingredients. We had an overstock of Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum and I figured that I could use that in my recipe instead. Boy was I wrong! Yep, I used rum for bourbon and it single handedly ruined the recipe. It all smelled so good during the process, but when I actually got to taste it... The rum taste was so overwhelming. You couldn't taste any of our beautiful farmer's market peaches. I was so disappointed.

But I didn't give up! I started off simple again and successfully canned applesauce, apple butter and strawberry jam. The strawberry jam was an interesting process. It was a recipe that came from the Small-Batch Preserving book called Favorite Strawberry Jam. I had photocopied the recipe because the process of making it was so unique. Basically it involves letting the strawberries and sugar stand for long periods of time while allowing shorter cooking times. The first time I made it I think I overcooked it because what I ended up with was equivalent to a large fruit snack in the shape of a half-pint canning jar. I sliced it into pieces and the kids ate 'em up!

The second time I made it, it turned out the way it was supposed to and I have to say that it truly is my favorite strawberry jam recipe. The picture up top is the end of the very last jar of our Favorite Strawberry Jam. I made the girls a couple of heart shaped PB&J sandwiches for their lunch boxes tomorrow and I know they will enjoy them! I can't wait to make more this Summer!

Drowning in Valentine Love!

So typically I'm not a huge Valentine's Day person. I enjoy a little romance here and there, but what I really love are the simple things. I love the simplicity of just holding Matt's hand, sitting on the couch with my girls next to me and just enjoying each other's company.

When I was a kid, Valentine's Day was just another day at school but we got to have a little party at the end of the day. I made a bunch of little valentine's with those paper doilies, cotton balls and some red construction paper. If I really liked the person I'd get crazy and glue those conversation hearts on it. I'd handwrite a little message on it and "viola!" Done. Good riddance.

Now it's our children that are having these little school parties and guess what? Things have changed. You can buy pre-made valentine's and all your kid has to do is sign their name (if that). Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great idea for those don't have the time or patience to clean up after their children's 18 mini masterpieces. Admittedly, this year I am no exception.

There is a fine line between letting your child be creative and being creative for your child. For instance, when your child comes home with a paper cut out of him or herself and is asked by the teacher for them to decorate it by themselves; inevitably you'll want to help your child out a bit. So there is helping out your child by guiding them with the glue for them to glue on yarn for their hair and maybe helping them draw some clothes. You look at the hot mess and say, "Good job! You did it all by yourself!"

A few weeks down the road for a class party or something you see the cute paper dolls of the children decorating the classroom and you spot it. There is ALWAYS ONE that looks a little bit too perfect. The eyes are drawn on evenly, the clothes are cut and glued on with fabric... Obviously the parent had a little too much fun with "junior's" class portrait. It's pretty hilarious, really. But also a bit sad! How will a child ever know how to hone their creativity when mom or pop are always "fixing this" or "straightening that?"

I have been working on this! Letting go of the reins and letting the kids be creative for themselves just as I was when I was a little girl decorating my own valentine's for my classmates. Here is the tricky part... I want my kids to have fun and be creative with their valentine's, but darn, there are so many cute ideas for children's valentine cards! The kicker is that if I don't do it now, I probably never will because soon enough my kids will probably die of embarrassment if I keep up with the cute stuff. And that makes me sad.

Here is what I decided I'd do. I sat down with my girls and we looked at a couple of fun things to do for valentine's and here is what we ended up with:

Lily was actually pretty easy. She knew she wanted Pokemon on her valentine's and I let her choose one Pokemon for each of her classmates. She basically just told me what she wanted each valentine to look like and what font to use for the lettering. I like the way they turned out and I'm happy that she got to direct the creative process in making them.

We got the candy bag idea from Martha Stewart, and we tweaked it to her liking.

Sophie was a little tricky. There is a certain cuteness factor with her. She's still little and very easygoing so it was hard for me to let the reins go completely with her. So I found a website of some vintage valentine's and let her pick out a bunch. She also really liked the candy bag idea so we did that for her as well!

I have to say that it was actually very relaxing to just let the girls do their thing. I showed them what to do and they just followed along. I had to adjust Sophie's a little, but I'm just happy that she constructed them and had a fun time doing it.

I've been so used to helping and controlling the creative stuff my kids get to do at home. I know that I'm just a kid at heart, but I need to be the adult and let my kids enjoy their creative time. I'm happy that I'm learning to let go of the control little by little. After all, loving your children is letting them be children. They really do grow up too fast!

Happy Valentine's Day!

"Love is patient, love is kind, is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take in account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in righteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."

Paul the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 13: 4-8

Fair Winds and Following Seas

We've come full circle: VT10. Our first and last squadron.

It is an overwhelming experience coming out of the military life and into the civilian. There are so many opportunities and the world feels so big. But after having been told where you are going to go, when, and for how long... It’s almost too much to handle having the freedom a civilian family has. Where do you start? Where are the good jobs? Where are the good schools? Do you stay put or do you move closer to family? So many options…

A little over 10 years ago, I moved to Pensacola FL to be with my high school sweetheart. Matt was a flight student and I was along for the ride. Little did I know I was on board for the ride of my life! It was exciting to visit new and different places and it was lonely being away from family. Being a Navy family means having unexpected experiences. Like so many other military families, I experienced having a husband deployed somewhere in the Middle East. I had my second daughter without my husband to hold my hand. We've experienced the grief of losing fellow pilots in our squadron. We've seen squadron mates get married, have children and start a family. We've seen some friends get divorced or separate. We've seen our friends come and go in our lives but the one thing that anchors us together are the experiences we've had being in the Navy.

No more of these "hello" and "goodbyes"

So where do we go from here? Everything is a window of opportunity and every feeling ebbs and flows. Nothing feels secure, but everything feels exciting! We put our faith in God and rest assured that only He has perfect timing. He is the only one with the answers to the path we are supposed to lead. I really wish that He would hurry it up a bit though!

I am proud to have served our country as a Navy spouse. I think that it is so important to understand, support and be patient with our active duty spouses. They have one of the toughest jobs in the world. And those of us who hold down the fort learn new strengths, make new friends and make sure everything runs smoothly at the home front. We are two superheroes in one fortress of solitude. It’s quite a dynamic!

Here we are: The beginning of the end and the beginning of something new. I’m hanging on for the ride and embracing everything that happens. The transitions will be tough but it’s not going to break us. It’s time to walk a new path. A new adventure waits just like we’ve had every 2-3 years for the past 10 years. Only this time it will be more permanent and we finally get to plant some roots. Our children will get to grow up with other children and actually have two parents in the house on a regular basis.

It’s time… and we're ready.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed in the things you didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off your bowlines. Sail away from safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

~Mark Twain~

February: A Month That Reminds Us to Love

January has come and gone and did you know that February this year has an extra day? 29 days instead of 28! It's a Leap Year!

February is always such a nice time of year. Especially here in Florida where we've been blessed with 70 degree weather. My two older sisters have birthdays in February and the kids get to celebrate their 100th Day of School. It's also the month in which we celebrate Valentine's Day! We get to feel loved by our loved ones, our Facebook friends, the radio ad's for flowers, the TV commercials for chocolates, and complete strangers. And why shouldn't we? Everyone needs love! Love is all you need.

The best part is that I get to whip up a couple of cute Valentine's Day skirts for my girls. My go-to pattern is from one of my favorite sewing inspirations, MADE. It's one of the easiest tutorials I have ever done and will continue to do as long as my girls will let me!

Typically I add on a big pocket to these skirts, but I didn't this time. Mostly because playground sand or rocks end up in them and make a mess in the washing machine. Sophie also likes to hide candy in the pocket and has once forgotten to take it out before it went into the wash! Valentine's Day is bound to bombard her with candy and I'd rather it end up in a baggie rather than in her pocket!

Here is Sophie's skirt:

Aww! It's so cute with all the kitties and hearts!

Here is Lily's:

Pretty! Like a bunch of Valentine's Day sugar cookies!

Lily is getting harder and harder to sew for... and understandably so. She's getting older and doesn't want anything too cute looking, but still wants to look nice. She tells me she doesn't like to wear skirts because she likes to climb and hang from the monkey bars at school. She also doesn't like wearing skirts when she rides her bike because the back part drags on the rear wheel! But every once in a while she will wear a skirt. And I always have a pair of bike shorts handy for her to wear under the skirt so that she can still run around and play!

In the kitchen I'll probably bake something yummy and along the lines of red velvet cupcakes. I'll put one in a Mason jar and give them away to teachers, friends and neighbors. Valentine's Day is just a reminder to love and appreciate those around you. It reminds us to show each other love, to forgive and forget. Sure it's surrounded by cheesy love songs and heart shaped candy-boxes. But the truth is, Valentine's Day makes it easier for those who can't or don't always express love to someone. We should enjoy it! Cheesy stuff and all!

"There's nothing you can know that isn't known.

Nothing you can see that isn't shown.

There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.

It's easy... All you need is love."

-All You Need Is Love by The Beatles-