Favorites

Favorite bits of the week:

Pumpkin carving…

Glowing leaves of fall…

Silly kitties in boxes…

Dinners at the table…

A thoughtful gift from Casey after he returns from a trip…

A shiny sink and a clean house heading into the weekend…

Kitties playing dead…

Cozy blankets and hot chocolate…

A finished Learn Something New journal…

Gracie’s annoyed face… apparently she didn’t like my laughing at Ellen while she was trying to cuddle…

Warm apple pie…

Looking forward to a quiet weekend at home with Casey after a night out tonight with friends from work!

Good Eats (2)

Dinner last Tuesday was not eaten at the table, but it was a delicious new-to-us recipe: Chicken Enchilada Stuffed Shells.

Dinner last Wednesday, yes at the table, was chicken ala kenny with a side of cranberry sauce and for me some broccoli.  One of my favorite meals.

Last night, dinner at the table was chicken parmigiana with a side of cottage cheese.

The centerpiece of lil’ pumpkins grown in my parents’ garden!

Not very pretty this time (the cheese got a little overdone), but super tasty!

I’m so glad we’ve met my goal the past couple weeks of eating at the table at least one night.  We haven’t spent much time there once dinner is finished, but it has been great to sit and chat between bites.

Dear Today

I wrote a letter to my adolescent self on Friday after being inspired by another blogger and in honor of Dove’s latest self-esteem movement, which asks: “What do you wish you’d known at 13?”

There was so much more I could have said looking back on who I was and how I acted back then, but I kept it simple… and really, the more I read it, the more I realize it is almost all stuff I still have to tell myself today; so much of it is things I’m still learning and still need reminding of and encouragement with.

As we get older, we become someone we’ve never been before.  It all comes together based on what we’ve been through, who we’ve known, and the choices we’ve made.  I doubt that who I am now is who I imagined I’d be when I was a teenager, but I am glad for that.  I have seen and experienced so much since then that allows me to be more than I ever could have dreamed of.

I have grown a lot in recent years, becoming someone who is in so many ways completely different than who I used to be.  I am not sad to have lost old parts of myself, because I think the new parts are better- I am becoming more aware of who I truly am, what my authentic self is all about, and that makes for a far more meaningful and joyful life.

I know I’ll continue to grow… forever.  Life comes and life goes, but if we are living based on our own values, on who we are deep down, then we are living true to who God has created us to be, which to me seems to me like the best possible way to live.

“To be nobody but yourself in a world that’s doing its best to make you somebody else, is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight.  Never stop fighting.”

~ E. E. Cummings

Dear 13 Years Ago

To My Adolescent Self,

Do not depend on others for your own happiness… especially boys! In the same regard, don’t expect to make everyone happy every moment; it’s a waste of your precious time.

Figure out what is important to you and what you love and live your life based on those things. Don’t worry if those things are different for others, because if you’re meant to be friends with someone, they’ll love you despite your differences.

You are already beautiful, so there is no reason to try to be someone or something else, no matter how cool everyone else thinks that something else is.

Life goes by fast, so spend every moment you can doing things you love and that make you happy. Share those moments with the people you love and imprint them in your brain as best you can. When struggles come along, just keep trucking; when the struggle is over, do not stew over it, but move on, be joyful, and use what you’ve learned from it to make the most of each new, glorious day!

Be kind to others and to yourself. You are always loved, so never despair. The things that seem so tragic now will be forgotten later, so keep moving forward. There is so much life to live; spend it loving, giving, and being true to yourself.

Sincerely, A Much Grown Future You

(This post was inspired by Kelle at Enjoying the Small Things and her AMAZING promotional post for Dove’s movement for self-esteem, which asks: “What do you wish you’d known at 13?”)

Good Eats

I love to cook and bake.  This fact has become more evident to me since Casey and I moved into our condo.  When we lived at our first apartment, I dabbled a bit in the kitchen arts, but it wasn’t until we got married and began living in our first non-rent home that I really got into it.

At first, I mostly made recipes I was familiar with, either because they were family recipes or just simple things like spaghetti sauce over pasta.  Gradually though, especially this past year, I’ve started to branch out.  I make a new recipe at least once every two weeks, if not more often, and keep those recipes in my repertoire if they are deemed delicious enough.

I am an extreme advocate of cooking at home.  I love the following quote from Michael Ruhlman, extracted from his blog profile: “…the world is better when we cook for ourselves.”  When you make food yourself, you know where it came from and what went into it.  Not only that, but you commit an act of love when you cook at home, because you are taking the time to carefully prepare something, whether for yourself or others.

In addition to preparing a home-cooked meal for my two-person family, I’d love to also eat dinners at the table.  Too often we eat in front of the TV and I think that takes away from our relationship.  So, I’m going to set the goal today to make a meal and serve it at the table once a week.  Starting small can equal big things, so I think it will be great!

I’ll share each week the meal I made the week before, hopefully most often something new, along with a shot of the table setting.  Seeing as I’m starting the eating-at-the-table this week, I don’t have any table setting pictures.  But, I do have a recipe for a meal I made last week: Pioneer Woman’s “Ranch Style Chicken.”  I served it with “crash hot potatoes,” topped with jalapeno pepper ketchup, and broccoli.  It was excellent and I definitely recommend it!