so peachy

I am still unsure of the distinction between crisps and cobblers, but I'm pretty sure this is a crisp. Peaches were on sale this week and knew as I was filling one of those thin plastic bags with several rounds of the fruit I knew I wanted to bake them and cover them with a crumbly, brown sugar topping. I'm learning that baking in our kitchen in the summer = hot hot hot. But I was itching to get flour on my face and pull something homemade out of the oven.

I adapted this recipe from a couple different recipes in my recipe box and cut it down so we wouldn't be eating peach crisp for the next 2 weeks. And turned out exactly as I had imagined - warm, gooey, buttery, and crumbly.

Peach Crisp for 2
Filling:
4 peaches, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1 Tbsp flour
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla
Topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup uncooked oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter

• Preheat oven to 375. Grease a small pan. In a bowl, combine the peaches, sugar, flour, lemon juice, and vanilla. Toss and pour into pan.
• For the topping, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Divide the butter into small sections and cut into the dry ingredients. Pour and spread over the peaches. You can also dot the top with butter.
• Bake for 45-50 minutes.

the art of being busy

I love to be busy. I always have. I remember when I was in 6th grade I had a fever that lasted nearly a week. And on day 3 or 4 of being home from school, I begged my mom to let me go and said that I really didn't feel that bad. Or at work, the thing I dread the most in nearly every job I've had is those quiet, I-have-nothing-left-on-my-to-do-list days. Doing "nothing" is hard for me. And whether this is right or not, I feel so much more productive when I have a long to-do list.

I'm realizing that this has been why life post-college has seemed so...unproductive. One of the biggest reasons I loved (and sometimes hated) college was each day was jam packed with class, work, lunch with the girls, projects, and homework. It felt so good to have daily, weekly, monthly goals and to be working towards and for something - a degree and diploma. I would literally plan out each hour of my day in order to get everything done. And I remember going to bed at night exhausted, but fulfilled.

Fast-forward three years to right now and I feel like my life is the exact opposite. The earliest I ever have to be to up is 7:00 am; I never have work outside of work; lunch dates have turned into occasional phone dates; and since I've been blessed with a husband whose spiritual gift is cleaning, about the only big thing on my list each night that I feel I have to do is make supper and walk the dog. And although each day has its own goals - grocery shopping, wash the car, vacuum - it's almost like those things don't feel enough like work to me.

Okay, it sounds like I'm complaining, but really I'm not. I know that I have been richly blessed with so many things and opportunities that I do not deserve, but I'm just trying to find my way in this new phase of life. And although this may sound counterintuitive, the less things I have to do, the less productive I am. You would think that since I have all this spare time and energy that I'd be adding projects to my list left and right. But I don't. I get complacent and lazy when I'm out of the routine of being busy.

So new goal: add things to my to-do list, big or small. There are big things that I've been dreaming about doing for awhile now and the fear of failure and the unknown has been holding me back. There are small things that stare me in the face everyday. I need to quit waiting for everything to be perfect because it never will be. I just need to start...and nows the time.

image via

firsts

It has certainly been a week of "firsts" around here. For starters, we had our first house party in our first home. One of the first things I thought when we bought our house was how much I was looking forward to (finally) hosting my own party. For years I've dreamt of buying pretty napkins, setting up an appetizer table just so, and having a hand-picked playlist crankin' out tunes in the background. I'm sure it's a girl thing...or maybe just me? There were a few times throughout the night that I just wanted to press pause and capture the moment. It was good - the friends, the food, the laughs, the lawn games.

Second first: I listened to my first record on my own record player! I've been wanting a record player for years and thanks to my awesome brother-in-law and Tim's aunt, I now have a fully functional, fully awesome record playing spinning John Denver vinyl at this very minute in my living room. I can only imagine what Christmas is going to be like with a record player...it seriously gives me goosebumps!

Third first: as I type this, Tim is at his first class for grad school and thus begins night classes for the next 3 years. I had to buy his school supplies this week, which were very specific (surprise surprise) - Bic mechanical pencils with .5 lead and a Mead five-subject notebook. That's all. He's so efficient.

And now, since I'm still going through a big of withdrawal from my 365 project, here are a few photos from the weekend:

devotion :: psalm 104

Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with splendor and majesty,
covering yourself with light as with a garment,
stretching out the heavens like a tent.

He lays the beams of his chambers on the waters;
he makes the clouds his chariots;
he rides on the wings of the wind;
he makes his messengers winds,
his ministers a flaming fire.

He set the earth on its foundations,
so that it should never be moved.
You covered it with the deep as with a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
At your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of your thunder they took to flight.
The mountains rose, the valleys sank down
to the place that you appointed for them.
You set a boundary that they may not pass,
so that they might not again cover the earth.

You make springs gush forth in the valleys;
they flow between the hills;
they give drink to every beast of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell;
they sing among the branches.
From your lofty abode you water the mountains;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.

You cause the grass to grow for the livestock
and plants for man to cultivate,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
and wine to gladden the heart of man,
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen man's heart.

The trees of the Lord are watered abundantly,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
In them the birds build their nests;
the stork has her home in the fir trees.
The high mountains are for the wild goats;
the rocks are a refuge for the rock badgers.

He made the moon to mark the seasons;
the sun knows its time for setting.
You make darkness, and it is night,
when all the beasts of the forest creep about.
The young lions roar for their prey,
seeking their food from God.
When the sun rises they steal away
and lie down in their dens.
Man goes out to his work
and to his labor until the evening.

O Lord, how manifold are you works!
In wisdom have you made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Here is the sea, great and wide,
which teems with creatures innumerable,
living things both small and great.
There go the ships,
and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it.

These all look to you,
to give them their food in due season.
When you give it to them, they gather it up;
when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
When you hide your face, they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath, they die
and return to their dust.
When you send forth your Spirit,
they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.

May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works,
who looks on the earth and it trembles,
who touches the mountains and they smoke!
I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I rejoice in the Lord
Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
and let the wicked be no more!
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Praise the Lord!

to travel the world

both images via

During my morning routine of reading through blogs and perusing Pinterest, these two images really hit me as beautiful and inspiring. There's so much in this world I haven't yet seen and my wish list of destinations seems to grow with each new issue of Backpacker we get in the mail every month. On my short term travel list: see the Tetons and Yellowstone. Long term travel list: watch the sunrise on the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

uncharted territory

Last night, I did two things I've never done before:

1. I made gyros.
2. I made gyros with ground chicken, adapted from this recipe.

The result?

1. While cooking and preparing it last night, Tim walked into the kitchen and said, "Woah, it smells like real gyros in here."
2. I didn't even get a photo of the finished product. Translation = we couldn't eat it fast enough.

I was so surprised. I've come to love ground chicken for certain things, but I never thought it would make it's way into a gyro. The secret is in the seasoning - oregano, garlic, and salt are the reason this post is even possible. Oh, and the yogurt cucumber sauce...

Bless the Lord

Ever since church yesterday I haven't been able to get this song out of my head. As I start a new day and a new week, this is my prayer.

sometimes...

sometimes my husband makes the most perfect looking/tasting wings...

his secret? double breading on those bad boys. and super hot oil. buffalo wild wings - you've got competition.

family vacay, round 3 :: oh, the food

Just in case one big family vacation/get-together wasn't enough, we decided to do another, this time with Tim's side of the family. We spent 4 days in the pristine north woods of Wisconsin, soaking in everything that the slowed-down-pace of cabin life has to offer. Our gracious hosts (Jim, Karen, Kyle, & Tyler) showed us nothing short of a good time. After a few weeks of non-stop busyness and traveling, it felt SO good to wake up to no alarm, never know what time of day it was, and not hear one piece of national news all weekend.

Another thing that was great: the food. Oh my. Aunt Karen is one of the best hostesses and cooks I've ever met. Everything was not only delicious, but beautiful. There was egg bake, shrimp salad, Chicago dogs, cream puffs, cream cheese jalapeño dip, marinated pork tenderloin...I could go on and on. Amazing.

Other highlights:
Morning coffee on the deck
Wakesurfing (seriously, funnest thing ever)
Listening to the loons on the lake
Kayaking
Evelyn (it was her first trip to the cabin)
Evening pontoon rides
Food (see below)
Jam sessions in the "tree house"
Walk through the woods
Dinner conversations
Sunsets
Lawn games