Twenty

Twenty years ago today, the husband and I said "I do."


Our wedding was like most; the dress, the tux, the flowers, all the fussiness that comes with a traditional wedding.

To be honest, I wanted to skip all of it but the "I do." Not everyone agreed with me. Hence the fussy wedding photos.


Funny thing is...if you asked the husband today...he too would say "skip the Grand wedding and keep it simple." You see twenty years later we both know that the wedding day is but a moment. 

Save Grand for the rest of your lives. It's in the next ten, twenty, forty and more years that Grand really matters. 


In good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, till death do us part. 

The loving, patient, forgiving, humble and encouraging kind of Grand! That's what blesses a marriage.


Thank you husband for twenty Grand years!


Christine

What a treat

Yesterday afternoon, the sun was shining and I could not resist the urge to start cleaning up the flower beds. I left them a bit of a mess last fall...shame on me! 


I was thrilled at what I found as I worked.


The bleeding heart is growing. This one is white, but I also have a pink one. They're both beautiful!

The lilies are coming up. I can't wait to smell their incredible fragrance again!

I have to cage the lilies every year with chicken wire or the darn rabbits will bite off their stems. 


You'd think they would learn. Every year it's the same story. The rabbits will bite the stem of a lily off at the ground, decide it doesn't taste good, and proceed to bite off the next lily stem. 


Umm...if the first one wasn't to their liking, what makes them think the next one will be better? After a couple years of finding every lily discarded on the ground, I learned! And now they are caged. And I am happy!


Much to my surprise, I also found this little delight in the flower bed. I don't know where it came from or what it is. Maybe a squirrel deposited a bulb in hopes of returning to munch on it later. Apparently the squirrel forgot about it because it grew and now I get to enjoy it.

With some gardening done, it was time to bake the cookies.


I have a little business baking cookies. It's mostly just friends and family that order from me. 


Last night I had two orders for chocolate chip cookies to make.


I love the way the house smells when cookies are baking. 


It can be a little hard on the family when I have a cookie order. Occasionally there is a cookie or two extra that they can sample, but when there isn't anything extra, they think it's cruel that they have to smell cookies baking that they won't get to eat.


I do let them sample the cookie dough sometimes. That is the best part after all.

But with two cookie orders to bake last night, no one had reason to complain.

I made enough cookies to fill the orders, allow the husband to have a taste, the girls could take a couple in their lunches today, and there were still enough cookies so I could have one of these.

Now that's how you eat chocolate chip cookies my friend! 

Yep, yesterday was a treat!

Christine

Done

It may take us awhile, but we do eventually get the job done.


Several weeks ago the Husband and I purchased this.

For several weeks...several weeks, it has sat in a corner waiting for us to hang it. It isn't that we didn't know where we wanted to hang it, we just...umm...well...


We were busy.


We were playing Donkey Kong on the Wii and munching Angie's Kettle Corn.

We were distracted by sparkle.


I could give you many more reasons, but they were really just for me and I feel sufficiently justified in my procrastination with those three. I'm sure it doesn't matter to you why we didn't get around to hanging it...you probably didn't even notice it was sitting in the corner.


Anyway, the husband finally got the job done yesterday. I watched supervised!


Have you figured out what it is yet? 


Yes, it does look like a cool sculpture.


Each of these loops serves a purpose.

  
Figured it out now? 


These loops hold photos, cards, drawings, really anything like that we find interesting and want to display.

How cool is that?


I can change out the photos anytime I want. It's a perfect way to display Christmas and birthday cards, poems the girls like to write and the occasional postcard we receive when someone we know takes a fun vacation. I think it's fabulous!


The only downside is that it draws attention to our very outdated, painted white railing. UGH! My hope is that one day we'll replace it with a lovely wood railing...like this one.

That would be lovely wouldn't it? 


One day!


For now I'm just excited that we have our display of photos up.

By the way, those photos in the middle are of me. One as a baby and one all growed up. 


The husband and I, in our delight to have accomplished the task of hanging and filling the photo holder,(to be honest I don't know what else to call it) called the girls to come and see. 


We were hoping for some oooos and aaaahhhs. A little "nice job folks."


But noooo. The kids were too busy with the ipods. 


Their friend Miss Em just got one for her 13th birthday. Happy birthday Miss Em!

But still, they could have gotten up for just a minute to look instead of putting us off until later!


I wonder where they get that?


Christine 

Scrap it

For a long time I have saved old sheets...you know the ones, with the elastic that is no longer elastic, so in the morning you find yourself wrapped up in the fitted sheet like a mummy. I have also saved old dress shirts...you know the ones, that have acquired a hole or the ones that the husband no longer wears. I have saved them because there is still a lot of good fabric in them. I couldn't just throw that away!

Well I am patting myself on the back now. All of that "still good fabric" is coming in very handy for the sewing lessons I've been giving the girls.


For our last project, we used "still good fabric" to make these silly characters.

Aren't they fun?


Speaking of fun, it has been very fun to listen to the girls chat as they work. Now I know who all of the cute boys are! No no no, don't even ask! I am sworn to secrecy. I have also learned which classes are sooo boring and which teacher tells the best jokes. I love it!

I'm also very impressed that now they know the difference between a running stitch and a whip stitch.

Even the girls are learning the value of saving "still good fabric." Keep those scraps!

While making our current project, a cute little bag, using "still good fabric," we realized they would be way cuter if we embellished them with some adorable scrap fabric flowers. Check it out!

How much cuter is that?


Ah...girl talk, ribbons, and fabric flowers...good things! 


Have I mention how much I like ribbon? I could wander the ribbon isle of a craft store for days. Yep, I save ribbons too. I have jars and containers full. Lovely ribbons. They make me smile!

I can't wait for the next sewing class!


Christine

Keeper?

I have a dilemma! I pulled another recipe out of the recipe file. (Who knew it would take blogging about each new recipe to get me to start clearing out the file, but yea!) The recipe was One-pot chicken with sausage and potatoes.


Brown 1/2 pound of sweet italian sausage over med-hi heat, about 4 min. I love the smell of italian sausage cooking!

Once the sausage is browned, transfer it to a bowl. Place two chicken breasts, halved and seasoned with salt and pepper into the pot.(I used three chicken breasts, because three came in the package. How's that for a reason?) Cook until browned on both sides, about 10 min. Then set aside the chicken with the sausage. Next time I would use boneless, skinless chicken breasts...easier.

While I was browning the sausage and chicken, the husband was helping out by chopping up potatoes and celery. Look at the lovely presentation. He's so wonderful!

He also tried to help with dicing the onions. Have you ever tried this trick?

The idea is that if you light a candle and place it close while chopping onions, the onions are not supposed to make your eyes water. Yeah, that doesn't work. I ended up chopping the onions. Apparently the husband has very sensitive eyes! I think he will be getting these for Christmas.

Oh baby! Won't he look handsome? Maybe I'll get some too! Although that might totally freak out the kids...and the dog. On second thought I'll just chop the onions!


Hmmm, where was I...oh yes, toss the onions, potatoes, and celery into the pot, season with salt and pepper, stir often, until onion is soft, about 3-5 min.

Return sausage and chicken to the pot, add 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low. Simmer until chicken is cooked through. The recipe says 20 min. It took more like 30 min.

Once the chicken is cooked through, remove lid and increase heat to high; boil until liquid is reduced to 1/2 cup.

Transfer chicken to platter. Add vinegar and oregano to vegetables and sausage and stir to combine. With a slotted spoon, transfer vegetables and sausage to platter with chicken. Transfer sauce remaining in the pot to a gravy boat and serve.


I removed the chicken from the bones and chopped it up. Emma bean is more likely to eat it that way. For some reason she does not like her chicken with the bones still attached. Go figure!

So there you have it. One pot chicken with sausage and potatoes. Not a very pretty meal, but I thought it was delicious. If you would like the complete recipe just click on the link. The recipe comes from the Everyday Foods magazine. 


I like that you can click the link to Everyday Foods for the recipe, because then I don't have to type out the whole thing. And if you try it and don't like it, you might not remember I suggested it, because the print out will have the Everyday Foods magazine name on it. If you like the recipe...well...it's theirs anyway! And maybe I'm lazy and don't want to type out the entire thing.


With that said and done, here is my dilemma...this recipe received two ehhs (the girls) and two enthusiastic thumbs up (the hubby and me)...do I save it or not? 


The husband and I would definitely enjoy eating this meal again, but is it worth making again if the girls don't really want to eat it? 


Maybe I need a section in my recipe box for company meals. Grown up company!


Christine

Sparkle

In exactly seven days the husband and I will be celebrating our twentieth wedding anniversary. That's right TWENTY years. Where has the time gone? It definitely does not feel like twenty years!


We have talked for several months now about what we were going to do mark this momentous occasion. 


There have been suggestions of a special trip for just the two of us. There was also the suggestion of a party. While both of these ideas sounded good, the timing is not so good. Easter is just around the corner, so a trip or party would have to happen well after our anniversary. It would also be a struggle to find someone to watch the girls while we were away. And we didn't think a trip or a party would provide the lasting memento of twenty years of marriage that we really wanted.


We finally decided to replace our wedding rings. There were several reasons for this decision: The original rings were yellow gold. I still don't know why I chose yellow gold, I never especially liked yellow gold on me. I think it was the norm twenty years ago. The husband's ring had an intricate pattern that, after twenty years, had become very worn and could not be buffed out without loosing the original look. And new rings would be a lasting reminder of our celebration of twenty years of marriage.


So without further ado...the new rings!

Now, I originally had not planned to blog about the new rings, but the husband has been teasing me since we got them because he seems to think I spend too much time looking at mine. 


I don't!


But would you blame me? 


My original wedding ring did not have any diamonds. This is all very new to me. They are very sparkly!


I really like it! 


Fine! Maybe I have been looking at it frequently. Like when I work on my blog...ooooo sparkly!

Or when I carry my Starbucks Mocha...oooo sparkly!

Or when I pick up my Target bags...oooo sparkly!

Alright I admit it. I do look at it often. It is beautiful and sparkly. I realize though, that under all of that sparkle those diamonds are flawed. No diamond, no matter how lovely it is, will be perfect. Yet I appreciate their beauty and I don't look for or think about their flaws.


Isn't that exactly how I should look at my spouse? 


After twenty years of marriage our flaws and our spouse's flaws can become blatantly obvious. It is difficult in the day to day to hide our imperfections from the people we spend most of our time with. Yet if I continue to look for the "sparkle" in my spouse, his imperfections will fade to the background. And that is absolutely how I would prefer he see me! Oh, how I would prefer he not see my many flaws...many...many flaws!


Now, I'm not saying that marriages don't sometimes have big problems that may need outside help to overcome. Every one of us needs to recognize the areas in our lives that need work. But wouldn't that process be made easier if the person, who promised to love us through everything, good and bad, chose to continue to see the "sparkle" they saw in us the day we met, twenty years later? 


That my friends is my goal for the rest of my life with my husband...to focus on the "sparkle"!

oooo...sparkly!


Christine

Puzzled

The cube has sat benignly on the bookshelf for months.

Which was more than one seventh grader could take. No, she could not leave well enough alone! 


Much to my dismay, my beloved seventh grader had to grab one of the blocks on the cube and pull.

Thus instantly transforming the benign cube into a mind bending, head pounding, never to be solved puzzle.


I begged her not to do it!


She promised she could handle it! 


She began with a twinkle in her eye and determination on her face.

She persevered for several minutes...

...before agitation set in.

Agitation quickly became frustration.

Frustration then turned into all out aggravation!

Aggravation then turned into resignation. My dear, darling girl gave up. Which of course left me with the tangled mess of a puzzle.


What was I to do with that?


It couldn't go back on the bookshelf a tangled mess!


So, I solved it, and put the cube away where it belonged...where it should have been left...where it sat benignly for months, not bothering a soul.

Poor girl. 


I told her. 


All I have to say is that I am smarter than a seventh grader! Oh yeah!


And I will brag about that every chance I get...until she asks me to help her with her advanced math. Then I will have complete amnesia about the bragging!


Christine