miscellany monday

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1.  leaving the nest. we've sponsored a precious boy from indonesia for seven years.  a few days ago we received a letter saying that he is now at the age of independence and no longer will receive support.  my heart is sad.  it's been a joy and privilege being a part of his life and watching him grow from boy to young man.  i now have a slight glimpse of what it will be like when our kids leave the house.  lord, help me.  if you want to know how to help support a child's schooling, clothing, medical needs, etc., all while giving them a chance to hear the Gospel, check out compassion international.  be a blessing.

2.  pie is the new cupcake?!  - i saw an ad that proclaimed this atrocity...  i don't care how good pie may be, it could never compare to the tiny goodness of a cupcake. 

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attention sc peeps:  we are missing out if we haven't tried a cupcake from sugar bakeshop in downtown charleston.  my friend bekah, says they are the best ever (and she knows what she is talking about... she bakes the most amazing goodies!).  i can't wait to taste some sugar!

3.  apparently, this is how daddy sings.  (ignore the fact that this video was awkwardly taken while changing his diaper.)  daddy needs to learn how to pronounce his words better. ; )

super soup.

you know this guy...

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he's from my neck of the woods back in california, so on our visit, we visited his restaurant, johnny garlic's. 

i ordered a butternut squash soup.  it was the best soup my tongue had ever laid taste buds on.  my grandma got gutsy and asked the waitress for the recipe.  i was a bit embarrassed.  why in the world would they just give out the recipe?!  the waitress came back, recipe in hand.  go grannie! hubby reminded me that since guy's recipes are all over foodnetwork.com it's probably not that big of a deal... who knows, this recipe may even be there too.  but, i don't want to burst my bubble of exclusiveness. ha. (okay, i just checked... this really is exclusive and cannot be found on the food network.)

this thanksgiving, i was asked to make the sweet potato casserole... well, let me just say that this soup is good enough to replace the good 'ol sweet potatoes with.  i plan on making it instead.  it's that good.  seriously people.  

you should know that this is the actual restaurant recipe.  meaning, it will feed about 30 - 35 people.  so, unless you want to turn your home into a restaurant, cut the recipe down to however many servings your heart so desires.  it would've been really nice of me to do that for you, but i don't want to be responsible for ruining your soup because of bad math.  

johnny garlic's butternut squash soup

*remember: this recipe is huge and will feed about 30 - 35 people.*

ingredients:

2 cups onion

1/2 cup garlic chopped

35 pounds butternut squash

1T. cayenne

1/4 cup worcestershire sauce

2 oz. olive oil

1 tsp. cloves

1 oz. tabassco

1/2 pound butter

6 qt. chicken stock

1 1/4 gallon cream

directions:

cut the squash in half, drench with olive oil, salt and pepper. roast the squash on a baking sheet at 350 degrees for one hour.  remove the skin from the squash, puree it in a food processor and then place it all in a large pot.  add the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil for 30 minutes.  eat and enjoy.  it's good to the last bite.

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hope each of you and yours has a sweet thanksgiving.  

miscellany monday

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1.  christmas cards done.  check. click to check ours out!

2.  we have a bob the builder on our hands.  notice hunter's gasp of excitement when he saw a real life lofty...

3.  love/hate.  i almost hate cooking.  but, our family needs to eat.  so the fact that i have to cook every day keeps me from completely abhorring it.  plus, there's this side of me that really wants to enjoy it.  on the other hand, i love the food network.  i scour recipes and read recipe books.  i worked at a kitchen store for over a year.  i have this weird contradictory battle inside of me when it comes to the kitchen.  am i the only one?!?  

4.  it's not easy being green.  "researchers at the university of arizona found that more than half of the reusable grocery bags they tested were contaminated by fecal bacteria and 17% were crawling with e-coli (redbook mag, pg. 72)."  now i don't feel so bad for always forgetting my reusable bags at home.

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melt my heart, why don't you.

miscellany monday: vacay edition.

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1. while you were sleeping.  or blogging.  or whatever.  we were on vacation (thanks to skymiles, and my grandparents' cooking and lodging).  and since hubsy isn't fond of letting the whole world know that our house is empty, i wasn't allowed to say anything until we got back.  he's smart like that.  but, in case you noticed the beautiful backdrops in our attempted christmas pictures, you'd also notice that we definitely were not in south carolina.  we were back home, visiting my family in the bay area of california.  which just so happens to be stunningly beautiful, which also makes it harder to come back to the lowcountry of the south.  no offense, i just adore hills, mountains, bays, the ocean with cliffs and real waves.  ; )

clockwise from top left: the redwoods, bodega bay, sonoma vineyards, and san francisco.  see why i miss living there??!?

2.  no shut eye on the red eyes.  we had red eye flights there and back.  it was interesting.  neither of the kids screamed or were loud.  i'm way thankful for that.  on the way out, daddy and mommy were separated with a kid on each of our laps.  the faa has regulations that only allow one infant in arms per aisle.  and we had window seats.  ugh.  the plane was full to the brim so they couldn't change them for us.  we figured a kind person would see our stress and switch with us.  a sweet lady switched with me.  a mean man told hubby no.  can you even fathom?  kelly is standing there, holding sage, who is on the verge of a crying fest, with a diaper bag, and a bottle in her mouth, and the guy on the aisle made him get all the way over to the window.  kelly should have got up a bunch of times, but he's nicer than me and didn't.  i had the honor of holding our 30lb sack of sugar on my lap who did NOT sleep at all.  it was like 3 am and he wasn't about to close his eyes.  at least he was quiet.  on the way back home, they let kelly and i sit together (apparently they didn't know the rules and we weren't about to inform them) and we had an empty seat next to us...it was blissful, despite it being the middle of the night.  the kids slept.  mommy and daddy did not.

3a.  family, friends, food, and fabulous places.  that pretty much sums up our time.  it was wonderful being home, seeing all my precious family and our sweet friends.  the scenery is spectacular and we pretty much stuffed our faces.  i was convinced i gained some serious poundage, but i guess since we were on the go so much it helped burn off the thousands of calories i packed on... to my surprise i lost 4 lbs... i need to vacation more often.  : )  back to the food... i believe that everyone should have the privilege of tasting in-n-out.  at least once.  and i was informed that you could order a neapolitan shake rather than just chocolate.  and at only $1 something, it's more than good. 

3b.  #3 calls for it's own post.  you may have to forgive me as i blog about our trip for the next, well, month.  i would do a scrapbook, but blogging is easier and cheaper.  : )  it helps get over the post-vacation-want-to-move-back-home-blues.  

4.  red faced.  after arriving at the airport, after being awake all night, sitting on the plane with a full bladder, (i didn't dare use the restroom on the plane for fear of waking up the babe in my arms)  i walked into the men's restroom.  urinals and all.  and they were in use.  i wanted to die.  

5. say cheese.  we finally got our christmas card picture.  we went to the coolest beach ever, goat rock, and my grandma snapped a winner:

and if you're wondering where our matching outfits are, or where our specially coordinated attire went, remember, i'm a no frills kind of gal.  for me, life's easier that way.

6.  go giants.  it was such a thrill to arrive in san francisco the night the giants won the world series.  i only wish i had brought my bright pink giants cap to sport.  the team was flying in from texas a few hours after we did.   i was almost starstruck.  

fail.

a toddler on the verge of the terrible two's 

+

 a teething infant

+

 trying to get a halfway decent picture for christmas cards 

= 

fail.

case in point:

 hunter thought his sister looked like a kitty-cat with her hat on; he kept pointing at her and saying "meow!"

and these were the best ones.  oh well, at least the scenery was pretty.  better luck tomorrow.

thinking about christmas cards (and our christmas card tradition) just thrills me; the most wonderful time of the year is upon us!

miscellany monday

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1.  despicable me.  sometimes i get a big dose of reality and realize just how ugly i am.  i'm rude.  i'm unkind, selfish, and plain rotten.  i'm a sinner saved by grace.  the more i see my sin, the more i praise my Savior.  thank God for the grace He lavishes upon us.  thank God for the cross of Christ.

2.  j squared.  i watch (almost) zero movies.  not because i want to act above them or because i instead do something so noble such as reading or the dishes.  it's because i have the attention span of a three year old and get bored.  i also don't want to spend the money.  but i recently watched julie and julia.  it was so good.  there's something about julia child that makes you feel like you could actually debone a duck.  not that i will, but there's something good about a movie that inspires you a bit.

3.  speaking of movies and inspiration.  we finally got with the program and watched the blind side.  i cried the whole time.  i buy one dvd every five years; i would so buy this one in a heartbeat.

4.  don't turn us in.  we went on a train ride the other day.  hunter enjoyed most of it, minus the dark tunnel...

5. machines.  my grandpa, in a 1960's like fashion refers to computers as "machines."  my grandma, on the other hand, is becoming a computer junkie and receives hundreds of emails/day (mind you, she's retired) and is learning the art of facebook and begs us to teach her more.  they're cute.

from new to normal

whenever a major life change comes and disrupts the norm, i always long to go back.  back to what i'm used to.  back to the usual, whether the change can be good, bad or indifferent.  i like change (i think i lived in about 13 different houses by the time i was 19... and i wasn't even a part of a military family!), but at the same time i enjoy what i'm used to.  i can be type a like that.  when my parents divorced, i longed to be a family again, when my dad died of cancer, i longed to go back to when he was healthy (obviously).  when i moved across the country, i longed to move back home.  when i graduated college, i actually missed the studying, the papers, feeling like i was accomplishing something.  i miss the old until the new becomes normal.    

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having children is always a major adjustment.  i would say the second child has been a harder adjustment than the first only because they're so close in age.  i dealt with post-partum depression for awhile and felt completely unlike myself.  i felt incapable and inadequate.  but at the same time, found strength in the Lord.  in some ways it was a good place to be.  completely reliant on Him.  but at the same time, i just couldn't get out of the pit i found myself in.  i was dealing with some full fledge hormones that hated me.  finally i'm better.  thank the Lord.  finally i'm adjusted.  the newness of having another baby has worn off and i feel capable of taking care of my kids and am enjoying it.  the new has become normal.  it feels good.  i'm thankful.

{enjoying my baby girl}

for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:  

a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

  a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

  a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

  a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

  a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

  a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

  a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.

 -Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 ESV

miscellany monday

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1.  costume cuties.  our kids sure got plenty of use out of their costumes... we've been going to pumpkin parties and fall festivals all weekend and have had a grand time!

2.  loony lady. unfortunately i'm talking about yours truly.  for about an hour and a half the other day i was walking around with my cell phone in my pocket.  i don't do this often (which is why i probably miss everyone's calls).  during that time i scoured the house trying to find my phone.  and now i know you're tempted to tell me you've done the exact same thing.  but, you wait, it gets better worse.  also during that time i seriously thought something was wrong with my leg... i kept feeling a weird twitch near my pocket.  hello, my phone was on vibrate, in my pocket.  talk about a double whamy of dumb. 

3.  miss flo.  not to be confused with aunt flo that likes to visit monthly.  have you seen the progressive commercials with flo?  at the store yesterday i was visiting the clinique counter and was greeted by flo herself.  i wondered why in the world she'd be at a clinique counter trying to sell progressive insurance. and did flo herself really actually sell the insurance?  or was she just on the commercials?  my mind was confused.  and then i thought, i should be starstruck and ask for an autograph.  until i realized it was halloween.  and people wear costumes on halloween.  to my credit, she did look a lot like the real flo.  i seem to be stuck in a trend of loony.  at least it's good for a few laughs.

4.  much more than t-shirts.  this sweet family is adopting a child from ethiopia.  i'm very excited for them... i have a beautiful ethiopian niece that's as sweet as cherry pie, so this is close to my heart.  they are selling amazing t-shirts to help raise money for the adoption, because in case you weren't aware, international adoption costs gobs of money.  you can get a pretty shirt with a beautiful message to help an amazing cause.  win-win-win.  if you have a heart for adoption, please visit and learn more about them!

 a glimpse of one of the fabulous t-shirts