Hello, summer!

Yesterday I returned from the most wonderful weekend at Seabrook with my Mama and my sis. I loved every single second of it, and if it was any indication of how the rest of our summer will unfold, holy cow, we're in for a good one!

Sky high

Just as I suspected, bounding around a warehouse full of trampolines was a delightful way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Never mind that we were the oldest, the sweatiest, the first to be completely and thoroughly winded (we managed that in about 4 minutes flat, I think), and the only ones documenting the whole affair for posterity.

I shudder to think of the fun we'd miss if we let things like that get in our way :)

And rounding out Saturday's good things:
- An early birthday card from Craig and Christina, which admonished me to eat as much cake as possible, to which I say - I accept the challenge!
- A drive through Medina, with Jan Michael and Craig and the sun streaming in, to see how the other half lives :)
- A big, fat cheeseburger, washed down with a 10-calorie lemonade - it's all about balance, yes? :)
- Laughing, lots and lots of laughing!

Contrary me

Do you know what I think? I think I'd better quit announcing my grandiose plans on here - a family portrait every day for a month, sharing my 3 good things - because as soon as I do, I'm hit with the worst apathy toward blogging. It sort of steals my thunder when I feel like I have to post a bunch of things just because I said I would; somehow it makes it seem like a chore instead of sharing from a truly happy place, if that makes any sense.

There have, of course, been so many lovely, good things these past days:
- A chat on the phone with our Gran
- A blackberry pie, which actually was a big, fat flop: a watery, soupy mess ... but I had tons of fun baking it!
- The sun, the sun, the sun, the sun, the sun! And more of it this weekend, they say!
- The lambs that are pastured in the field just as we cross the bridge into our tiny town
- A Cannelloni al Forno recipe that was a smashing success - it more than made up for the pie disaster!
- Our 14th anniversary, just two days ago
- Goodbye and good riddance to Jan Michael's sore throat
- Progress on our interior door project
- Mother's Day treats for our very deserving Mamas
- A weekend, starting tonight, loaded with dear friends and games and jumping on trampolines

I wonder if I broadcast my intention to quit posting things,  some crazy reverse psychology will kick in and I'll get back in the game :)

3 good things, a traffic jam

Yikes! What a rotten job I've done with sharing the good things! It's not the finding of them that's hard; it's sitting still long enough to type them out!

On Saturday morning I exhibited behavior that would not be found on any list of good things at any time or in any place. Jan Michael is under the weather - still! STILL!! - and just when we were set to drive south for a weekend of crazy fun with our family (a yard work party! a barbeque! cheesecake! togetherness!), his sore throat took a turn for the worse and he decided to stay home. So, the first good thing about Saturday is my husband's storehouse of patience and tolerance in the face of a wife who, at nearly 36 years old, can throw an award-winning tantrum. I find that the line between childlike and childish is very easily crossed sometimes...

Before I hopped in the car for the long, lonely ride south, sans husband, we took this lovely family portrait. I think it captures the sick (him) and the petulant (me) quite nicely:

We've taken a break from the family portraits since then. It's not quite as fun to play with the camera when you feel crummy, you know?

The second good thing about Saturday was the meatloaf sandwich I ate while sitting on my parents' living room floor. It had plenty of ketchup and a huge side of Doritos, and while I my temper about Jan Michael's on-going crud had dissipated, I was cranky about just being stuck behind the world's longest and slowest- moving train  when I desperately had to go to the bathroom because I'd fueled my long, lonely drive south with a Coke Zero. So, I told my parents my tale of woe while I ate their food, and I felt better. My Mama makes a really good meatloaf :)

Things began looking up in terms of my attitude shortly after that, and the good things (which are always there, but sometimes a rain cloud of a mood does a good job of hiding them!) started to pile up:

- My new friend Carlos, who is 5 (almost 6!), loves Monopoly and gets the best mischievous look in his big, brown eyes
- An almond oil facial with the mother-of-my-heart, which we chased with a splash of rose petal witch hazel
- A last-minute, late-night trip to the grocery store with the sister-of-my-heart because Sunday morning french toast needs french bread! :)
- This text from Jan Michael: 'I'm eating corn dogs and thinking of you'

On Sunday, I was flooded with good things, among them:

- A mason jar mug from the father-of-my-heart. It's maybe too much to explain here, but the gift paired with the giver is so special to my heart.
- An encouraging Sunday morning fellowship meeting
- A better-late-than-never birthday barbeque for our Dad, which included our most awesome Uncle Willie, who was just cleared to drive on his own after a stroke in March
- Serious discussion about our Mama-and-sis weekend at Seabrook, just 3 1/2 weeks away!
- The weather! So sunny and warm that part of the afternoon was spent lolling around on the patio
- A happy reunion with my Jan Michael, whose throat was sore but whose spirits were high

Yesterday and today's edition coming tonight!

3 good things, a double dose

From yesterday:

1. Having my eardrums blown out with Jan Michael's spontaneous bellowing of "She's a babe, yeah!" at the top of his lungs in his best operatic voice

2. My new favorite cupcake recipe:

Vanilla Bean (except without the bean because I used regular old extract instead) with cinnamon vanilla frosting = maybe I will eat cupcakes for breakfast for the rest of my life

3. Pizza and puzzles and books and 4 fierce rounds of Hide-and-go-seek with Eric, Tessa and Miss E:

Family portrait, round 3:

From today:

1. Waking up to a clean kitchen - I fought the procrastinating monster the night before and won! :)

2. An early morning chat with my Mama, in which we discussed important matters relating to Pinterest amd birthday barbeques

3. The funny, kind family I work for on Fridays, who are always so grateful for my help and generous with their compliments - today I was called a miracle worker :) - and who also happen to be the proud owners of  Hughie: 

I'm kind of crazy about him. He, however, was not so crazy about being banished to the backyard while I mopped the floor :)

Family portrait #4:

                                           See why he calls me a babe? :)

3 good things on the 2nd

1. The three horses and the two enormous, shaggy dogs Tonya and I met on our walk this morning. Horses hardly ever clop along down the trail, and not once have we ever seen Saint Bernard-Newfoundland-Pyrenees mixes (we were so astonished at their size, we had to ask) - two super fun surprises!

2. The lovely comment I found late this morning on yesterday's post from our cousin Laurie - a shot of happy to straight to my heart!

3. Our study tonight in Ecclesiastes and the thought that no matter the season of life we find ourselves in, God is in control of it all, and He wants and is well able to accomplish an eternal work in our hearts.

Family portrait #2:

                                                         I love his face :)

The very merry month of May

May is my favorite month. We were born and married in May, and those things alone are quite enough to rocket May to the top. But wait, there's more! I love the anticipation of a new season, waiting just around the corner, that swirls around all month long. I love Memorial Day weekend and that it signals the beginning of summer in my sun-crazed heart. I love May flowers and May ice cream cones and long May evenings. I like to cram as much fun as possible into each of the 31 days, and I like to think that finding the fun is one of my most honed skills.

The first thing I'm going to do as a high-five to May is reinstate '3 Good Things.' I won't have to look far to find them, but in the midst of the big to-dos, I want to be very mindful and grateful of the small, everyday things that make our life so sweet. I've also decided we will take a family portrait every day until we flip the calendar to June. There might be moments when we feel less enthusiastic about sticking to the program than others, but when we're 75 and remembering our younger years, we'll be glad we took ourselves in hand and pushed through :)

 So... Ready, set, go!

 1. A morning walk with my dear L and T It's such a privilege to have friends that are so helpful to my heart.

 2. This, said with a smile by my husband at lunch time, when I told him I would be home later than usual  because I would be shopping for a frilly apron to wear while I bake: "I love being married to you."

                                                 Mission accomplished!

3. The white pickup driving along in front of me this afternoon, loaded down with brilliant purple azaleas and a tree budding with fuchsia flowers - such a treat for my eyes while I rumbled down the road!

 Portrait #1 - Our serious side:

Spring steals my heart

Today has been magnificent: sunny and warm, with just the right bit of breeze, and birds chirping their little hearts out all the live long day. It's the sort of day in which my responsible side starts to pester the rest of me about lawn mowing and weeding and blah blah blah.

Without really any effort at all, I soundly ignored my responsible side. Instead, I went shopping for cute cupcake papers and flip-flops, ate a small - but entire - loaf of sourdough while I zipped between shops, tucked my ill husband in for nap, and took a slow, meandering walk down the trail.

 Can you believe that sometimes I don't appreciate spring as well as I should because I'm waiting on pins and needles for summer to arrive already? Shame, shame on me because this is what I miss when I only give spring a passing glance:

This old house

Actually, no. Our house is about a decade younger than we are, and since I most emphatically do not consider the two of us to be in our twilight years, I suppose our house isn't, either.

Even things (and people, ahem) in their prime need a good sprucing up now and again, though, don't you think? We've been eyeing our interior doors for awhile now, all of which are far past a surface sprucing. They're so far past that we've decided to rip them all out and replace them with new, beautiful, 5-panel cherry doors.

We're going to be super happy with the end result (and really, we're thrilled already!), but in the meantime, there's a lot of demolition and staining going on (3 coats on each side of each of the 9 doors, but who's counting?....ME!!) and piles of tools lying all over the place.

Anyone popping in for a visit over the next few weeks will be greeted by this:
You know it's a serious project when my overalls make an appearance :)



Storing a door at the foot of the bed works best if you can remember it's there before stumbling around in the middle of the night on the way to the bathroom :)

Caine's arcade

If you're having a less-than-cheery sort of day, I bet this will perk you right up :)

Two of my favorites with two of our favorites

Oh, and one beautiful Easter morning sunrise:

Sweet days

Two years ago next month, our youngest brother Ryan packed up and moved across the mountains. Until last Saturday, I'd laid eyes on him only once, for a measly 2 or 3 hours, and Jan Michael had not seen him at all. Phone calls are nice, but they do not cut it where brothers and sisters are concerned, and believe me when I say we will not allow such a thing to happen again.

On Saturday we zipped across the pass to finally (finally!!) spend the night with our long-lost, desperately missed brother. We brought him back with us on Sunday and spent two wonderful days lying around, just being together. He's spending the week with our Dad in Augusta, rubbing elbows with Vijay Singh and Fred Couples at a practice round of the Masters, and then we'll see him again on Friday for a little while when they fly back into town, just before he leaves again to go home.

I've loved our time together, the three of us yakking and laughing and sitting side by side. It's been so precious and I've tucked it all away in the memory box of my heart; it will help make waiting to do it again a little easier.

Seabrook!

The painting is finished and I'm pleased as punch about the whole thing. Don't you just want to come and stay with us? :)
All that's left to tackle is trim around the floor and window, a new door, and some fun art for the walls. We're on our way!

*Seabrook bedroom trivia: The white pillow cases with blue flowers are the very ones we put on our wedding registry. 14 years old and still in one piece! :)

Sea Air on the first day of Spring

Seabrook is one of favorite places in Washington, and since we aren't able to visit as often as I'd like (every month, maybe?), I'm turning one of the spare rooms into The Seabrook Bedroom. It sounds fancy, doesn't it? :)

I've adored the brilliant blue that's been on the walls for the last 8 years, but it's not quite right for a Seabrook bedroom, so off I went on a hunt for the perfect beachy, bright, happy, breezy color. Usually this would take 45 different paint samples and lots of stomping around in frustration, but this time I hit it the jackpot on the first try. There's hope for me yet!



A third coat tomorrow should be just right, and then I'll tell Jan Michael we're abandoning the master bedroom for beachier places :)

How to have the loveliest weekend in 7 easy steps

1. Have a picnic in the park surrounded by leg warmer-wearing trees

2. Visit a barnyard and talk to the sheep, get licked by the cow, laugh at the chickens and intrude upon the 300-lb pig's lunch time

3. Watch silly youtube videos of good natured pranks until the hills are alive with the sound of laughter

4. Plan summer backpacking trips

5. Run and speed walk at the high school track to combat an entire lemon cheesecake, one raw carrot cake, and a lasagna

6. Wear cozy pajamas and watch a bunch of adventurers high-tail it through the wilds of Venezeula

7. Decide to do it all over again in 6 days

Lemons

First of all, it's not raining and the sun made an appearance this afternoon, at least for a little while. Sunshine is wonderful any time, all of the time, but it was especially nice today since March seems to be operating under the 'in like a lion' notion - a roaring, angry, enormous lion. Come on, spring! I'm rooting for you!

Please ignore the blurry daffodils and just bask in the sun streaming through the window :)

Tomorrow morning Derek and Sara arrive for the weekend, and that means today, I bake! Do you know what I've decided? I love to bake because of this: our family is full of people with really specific, useful skills - Jan Michael is a computer genius, Derek takes be-still-my-heart pictures, my sis is the best hair stylist on the planet, the list goes on - and it's so handy to be able to call on their expertise. I, however, am a college drop-out who (happily!) cleans toilets and scoops cat poop for a living, so I don't always feel like I can return the favor to my amazing, talented family. But, I can bake, and I can bake with love, and when I do, it allows me to show, at least in a small measure, how much I appreciate each of them.

When I asked Derek for dessert requests, he voted for lemon cheesecake, and the recipe I used is totally worth sharing. I found it on a super fun blog called Perry's Plate - the link is under our 'More & more fun' list on the right; do pop over and take a peek! - and it's one of my favorite cheesecake recipes yet. It's simple and pretty and delicious (perfectly lemony!); there aren't any fancy-pants ingredients that demand driving halfway across the county, and the crust doesn't stick to the bottom of pan, requiring a chisel to scrape it out. I baked it a couple of weeks ago for our friend Kevin, who isn't a big fan of cheesecake to begin with, and he said he was converted :)


CURDED (BUT NOT CURDLED!) LEMON CHEESECAKE
For lemon curd:
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

For crust:
1 1/3 cups finely ground graham cracker or gingersnap crumbs (5 oz)
1/3 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

For filling:
3 (8-oz) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
3/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon (packed) finely grated lemon peel
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Make lemon curd:
Whisk together zest, juice, sugar, and eggs in a 2-quart heavy saucepan. Add butter and cook over moderately low heat, whisking frequently, until curd is thick enough to hold marks of whisk and first bubbles appear on surface, about 6 minutes.

Force lemon curd through a fine-mesh sieve into a wide shallow dish, scraping bottom of sieve, then cover surface with wax paper. Cool completely, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.

Make and bake crust:
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Invert bottom of springform pan (to make it easier to slide cake off bottom), then lock on side. Stir together crust ingredients in a bowl, then press onto bottom and 1 inch up side of springform pan. Place springform pan in a shallow baking pan and bake 10 minutes, then cool crust completely in springform pan on a rack.

Make filling and bake cheesecake:
Reduce oven temperature to 300°F.

Beat together cream cheese and sugar in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add eggs 1 at a time, beating until incorporated. Beat in sour cream, vanilla, lemon zest, and juice until combined.

Pour cream cheese filling into crust and bake cheesecake until set 1 1/2 inches from edge but center trembles when pan is gently shaken, about 45 minutes. (Center of cake will appear very loose but will continue to set as it cools.) Transfer springform pan to a rack and immediately run a knife around top edge of cake to loosen. Cool completely, about 2 hours, then chill, uncovered, at least 4 hours. Remove side of springform pan and top with lemon curd before serving.

*A quick note: The first time I baked this, I made the dumb, dumb mistake of making the lemon curd in an aluminum pan. Some kind of chemical reaction took place - something between the aluminum and the acid in the lemon juice, maybe - and it ended up tasting like a lovely pudding made of blood. I had to pitch it, of course, and send Jan Michael to Trader Joe's for a jar (which worked just fine) but the moral of the story is don't be like me!
*Quick note #2: I just realized that while I did find the recipe on Perry's Place (have you visited yet?!), Grace from A Southern Grace is the one who gets credit for the lemon love.

Today

Outside my window... It was light at 7:00 tonight! Yippee for daylight savings! How I love these longer and longer days.

I am thankful for...
- phone calls that keep our family close
- help and love from God
- joy
- a cozy house while the rain falls and the wind blows
- my husband the excellent dishwasher emptier
- antibiotics (and the means to buy them) which give a big, fat karate chop to staph infections

I am learning...about different things that apply to my heart. Too many to list here :)

From the kitchen...Today I tried a new recipe, one for pineapple ginger smoothies. I was all excited about it, but after a bunch of chopping and grating and blending, ...yuck. Not even using a fun straw to sip it helped. I was going to make myself drink it anyway, because who wants to waste a bunch of fruit and expensive-as-all-get out ginger? Then, guess what we discovered? Jan Michael likes pineapple ginger smoothies! He, who refuses my tasty spinach and strawberry concoctions - what a weirdo! :) - proclaimed it delicious. Disaster averted!

I am wearing...exercise clothes, the same things I wore when I exercised yesterday. Even the socks. Gross, I know.

I am creating...a list of what exactly needs doing in our bedroom, bathroom, and one of the spare bedrooms. This includes paint, lots and lots of clean, beautiful, fresh paint. By the end of this month, at least one of those rooms will be painted, or else.

I am reading...a silly murder mystery. It's the kind of story in which the murder isn't even important, and you can figure out whodunnit without any trouble (if you even remember that a crime was committed in the first place). Stuff and nonsense, really.

I am hoping...for a little bit of sun the next few days, but I may have to practice patience instead.

Around the house...The garage sale pile is growing and growing. I have spring fever, I think.

I am hearing...the clickety clack of the keyboard.

One of my favorite things...from Costco is the Oil of Olay body wash. The smell, oh the smell!

A few plans for the rest of the week:
- Work, work and work again (this is a good thing!)
- A phone date with our little brother, whom we will see in person for the first time in ages in just three weeks!! I can't wait.
- A walking date with my friend T (which is one reason I hope and hope for sun)
- A running date at the track, in which I try desperately to improve my 1-mile speed, and Jan Michael zips around like nobody's business
- Bible study
- Friday night teriyaki and sushi
- A Saturday slumber party with Derek and Sara - hooray!!

I concede defeat.

I have been beaten by the March photo challenge. Taking pictures of bedside tables and what's happening at 5:00 are too much for for luckluster (lately, at least!) little me. The ebb and flow of creativity is a interesting thing, isn't it?

Now, just look at who came to visit earlier today with four of her brothers and sisters:
The 5 of them + wearing flip flops to the library this afternoon because the sun was shining like crazy + a speedy 3-mile run tonight fueled by my husband, Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch and a beautiful, almost full moon = a lovely day.

Bedside

In keeping with my (cheating) practice of using old pictures, this was our bedside along the glorious Upper Missouri almost two years ago:
My old friend the camping/hiking/outdoor bug has been doing a slow burn in my little heart for awhile now, and Montana memories do not help :)

Free-as-bird Saturday

Do you know what I like about a Saturday that's completely free of plans and arrangements, even very fun plans and arrangments? I like the things that get accomplished.

For instance:
- Jan Michael plays early morning basketball.
- A vast amount of laundry is washed, dried, folded and put away.
- My underwear drawer is re-organized.
- We take a nap.
- I intrench myself more firmly in the world of Pinterest.
- We take a lovely late afternoon walk, slow and meandering, with the wind blowing and the sun shining.
- I do a hefty amount of jumping around in the garage to compensate for the bag of microwave popcorn and the six white chocolate macadamia nut cookies I ate the night before. Here is proof:
Fact: Tuck jumps are hard.

Something else I appreciate about a free Saturday is that I reserve the right to ignore certain things, like unearthing the kitchen counters from two feet of dirty dishes.

Now, about the photo challenge: Yesterday the topic was fruit, but all I could come up with was a really terrible picture of dried kiwis at the grocery store. Not dazzling at all. So, I'm cheating and using a picture from a few years ago, which to me is quite dazzling, what with the haze and the deer and the apples and everything:

Today's assignment is 'your neighborhood' but the fact of the matter is that our little neighborhood is nothing to write home about these days (too much winter & not enough spring, I think), and I'm sort of turning up my nose at not-so-pretty pictures lately. This means I'm going to cheat again, but this time it's really flagrant because for one thing, neither of us took the picture in the first place and secondly, this is nowhere near our house. It is, however, a neighborhood, and it's a neighborhood that Derek and Sara used to live by, and it makes me remember how much fun we had that night, the four of us with our bikes and our basketball, riding the teeter-totter and turning cartwheels in the grass as the sun set.

Marching in, an addendum

I've decided to sack the '30 Day Photo Challenge: Gratitude' project from Tuesday's post because the very first picture is supposed to capture my favorite food. Favorite food?! Does this mean I must pick one that I like above all others? I could not, would not pick just one, not in a million years. So, I'll work on this list instead:
'Up' is much more reasonable than 'Favorite food,' don't you think?

This morning was rainy and gray, but this afternoon the sun chased the gray away, and there were lots of billowy white clouds. This is what I saw when I looked up:

Also, when we flew home from California on the first day of February (one month ago already?! Yikes!), this is what we saw when we ourselves were up:

And one more thing: This has nothing to do with today's photo challenge, but it makes me happy, and maybe it will make you happy, too :) If not for my uncanny ability to wither any flower or plant with just a glance at 20 paces, I would skip right back down to our little grocery store and haul a truckload home in a heartbeat.

Happy March 1st to you! :)