Dinner guests

Guess who came to visit? Matt and Marji and my fave little Evelyn! They were car shopping in St. Cloud and stopped by for a grill out and lawn games. Evie liked sitting outside, staring at the sky. So Marji put her little cardigan on (so cute), wrapped her up, and she quickly fell asleep. What a little trooper. It's stuff like this that makes me so thankful we close to family.

Lately...

• I have been very aware of all the blessings I have in life. Sure, there are always small things in my life that I wish were different, but as a whole, my life is good. Sometimes I start to wonder if this is a "calm before the storm", like God is getting me ready for something which sort of freaks me out. But I know and trust all my good and bad are in His control.
• We have been eating some crazy good food! I don't know how it happened, but nearly every single meal last week was a knock out, including this. Talk about yum!
• The trees have been exploding with green buds and fragrant blossoms, and it makes my heart very happy.
• We have spent our weeknights going for long walks around the neighborhood, grilling, and playing lawn games.
• I have been busy designing some wedding loveliness for a good friend of mine getting married in October. 
• All I think about every morning, noon, and night is the house! Although, I'm trying to be very conscious about not wishing away the days because I know I will miss this apartment and its coziness.
• We (and by that I mean me) have decided not to buy/drink pop anymore, and have replaced it with our new favorite.

Food fave

What happens when you combine avocado, lime juice, cilantro, and sour cream? Happiness. Yes, that's right. I found the following recipe in a Cooking Light magazine at the library and being a sucker for all things that have to do with lime and cilantro, I quickly pinned it and threw it on this week's menu. And on a scale from 1-10 this was a 27. 

image via

Ancho Chicken Tacos with Cilantro Slaw and Avocado Cream
adapted from Cooking Light


1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips
3/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/8 tsp lime zest
2 tbsp fresh lime juice, divided
1/4 cup sour cream
2 tbsp milk
1/2 peeled avocado
2 cups angel hair slaw
1/2 cup diced red onion
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 tbsp canola oil
1/4 tsp salt
8 corn tortillas


Heat a large skillet over high heat. Sprinkle chicken evenly with chili powder, garlic salt, and cumin. Cook chicken for about 4 minutes.

Combine zest, 1 tbsp lime juice, and next 3 ingredients (through avocado) in a blender or food process; process until smooth.

Combine remaining 1 tbsp lime juice, slaw, onion, cilantro, oil and salt; toss to coat.

Heat tortillas according to directions. Divide chicken evenly among tortillas. Top each tortilla with avocado mixture and cilantro slaw.


Bon appetit!

According to Pinterest...

We move into our new house (still feels so crazy to say that!) in exactly 2 months, which has got me thinking, dreaming, and breathing anything to do with paint colors, area rugs, and wall art. I am one of those girls who, since my teen years, has always been antsy to have a house, a space of my own to do absolutely whatever I wanted. I remember going to antique stores with my mom and finding so many cool knick-knacks or impractical pieces of furniture that I could never justify buying because the only space I could claim as my own was my bedroom. And let's face it, you can only fit so many paintings, old tins, vintage chairs, and quilts into a 12x14 room. 

But now I have a house. We have a house, and it's ours to fill. And I honestly couldn't be more excited. I sort of have the feeling I did when we started planning our wedding. After going to many weddings and taking note of things that were cool and not so cool, it was our time to come up with exactly what we wanted to make our day perfect. Same with a house. I have dozens of pins on Pinterest devoted to beautiful house spaces, colors, and rooms, and I'm figuring out exactly how I want our house to look.


But I was realizing the other day while thumbing through a catalog of home decor that every single room in the catalog looked perfect: perfect white trim, perfect wood floors, perfect crisp bed spread, perfect vase of flowers by the bed. The same goes for Pinterest. I look on there and everything is glossy, freshly-remodeled rooms that look like no one lives in them. And I feel like my generation is starting to take this as the norm, that even as a newlywed twenty-something you should be able to have the perfect looking house. 


I'll be the first to admit that I've fallen into this trap many times, and probably will in the future. I was just talking to Tim about this a couple of weeks ago and said that I've lately found myself expecting to have the glossy, freshly-remodeled rooms in the very near future...because that's what everyone else has (according to Pinterest). But I know now and am realizing that that is not practical, not feasible, and not necessary. I need to count myself incredibly blessed just to say that I'm a homeowner at my age and that it isn't the size of a postage stamp and that it's not in the ghetto! I am so thankful.


So for now, we will take it one step and one room at a time. Who cares if we don't have granite countertops or white trim in the next year or even 5 years? Who cares if we don't get to painting over the pink paint in the basement right away? Who cares if we don't get the landscaping taken care of this summer? I am going to enjoy every decision and every process and not compare myself to the so-called real world. Amen.

Girls Weekend

While Tim and the boys were out canoeing, camping, and hiking, we (mom, Grandma D, Tara, and I) had a little girls weekend in St. Cloud. It was one of those weekends that was just so fun and relaxing and comfortable. I love being around people who know me, really know me; it's just so comforting. Some highlights from this weekend:

• Sunshine and a 75 degree Saturday afternoon
• An hour long tour of our new house
• Lunch at The White Horse
• Walking in and out of little shops downtown
• Sitting up late and solving all the problems of the world
• Laughing

So now it's Sunday afternoon, the rain has arrived, and the crew has left for home. This weekend was just one more reminder of my blessed life. 

Miss Evelyn

Guess what I got to do yesterday? I took half a day off at work, drove down to the Cities, and took some glamour shots of little Evie. How blessed am I? Seriously. And she did so good given the fact that we kept moving her around, putting clothes on, taking clothes off, etc. This was the first time I'd ever done newborn pictures, and I honestly don't know how you would do it in a studio or on a schedule. It was so nice to not have any time constraints and to basically just let Evelyn call the shots - when she was sick of it, we'd snuggle her; when she was hungry, she'd eat; when she was tired, we let her nap for an hour. It worked so well. And I know I may be a little biased and I know I've said this before (and will probably say 100 more times), but she is seriously one of the most beautiful little babies I've ever seen. Love you all, Miller fam!

It's a girl!

Not only did Tim and I become homeowners this past week, but we also became and aunt and uncle to sweet Evelyn Ray! It was quite the week. Baby Evie was born in the wee hours on Friday and is just about the most perfect little bundle of a baby I've ever seen. She is just precious. We spent the weekend calling dibs on who gets to cuddle her next, watching her chin quiver before wrapping her up tight, and stroking her soft little cheeks. Matt and Marji, you made one beautiful baby.