Crunchy Peas

everything else...

There is a lot floating around in my mind. I am a notorius over-thinker. Sometimes it gets so jumbled that it is hard to separate thought from thought. It's like rapid fire, one after the other. But when I ride (or run, or swim, or hike, or row...you get the picture) it all stops.

Total standstill.

The exertion necessitates that my whole self (mind included- there is no division) becomes devoted to: 

muscles under flesh, flexing, rising up, pulling away from bone

lungs and breath

sweat and salt on my skin

cadence, rhythm, pace, and time

pedaling, pounding, pulling, pushing

going further, faster

burning

building strength- inside and out

Exercise: it's just so vital to me. It's more like a rest actually. Everything else just fades away. 

sunday breakfast

 coffee: french pressed + steamed/foamed whole milk

cantaloupe + plain greek yogurt + chopped pistachios + drizzled honey

crustless quiche: 4 eggs + splash half and half + leftover roasted squash from the garden + jack cheese

potatoes + rosemary + olive oil + salt and pepper

*Hannah had a 12 hour swim meet on Saturday. It was the last of the season. No practice tomorrow. Weird.

*I cut my finger last night. It bled for over an hour. I almost went for stitches. I can feel my heartbeat in it now. Hard to type.

*I did approx 9 loads of laundry yesterday, deep cleaned the kitchen, organized my desk in the office (crazy quantity of papers piled up), folded approx 9 loads of laundry, cleaned out the car, changed the sheets, watered the garden, and put away approx 9 loads of folded laundry. Whew!

*90 + degrees forcasted for all this week. Yay.

*During Ian's nap yesterday I filled out enrollment packets for the girls to go to public school this year. I feel good about it, and I might share some of those feelings with you soon. School starts in 1 month. We'd better "do summer" until then!

*I think I might have to have these. 

Welcome to the week Friends.

For the dark days of winter

Admittedly, I don't have a very good memory. I wish I did. I wish I could remember more. My mind is so unreliable- fuzzy. I wish I had catalogs, files, or blog posts that detailed my whole life. I would refer back to them so that I could remember more conversations, more kisses, more seemingly insignificant moments... you never know how meaningful they may become to you later. 

So this post is for actually for February.  I'm documenting summer, and I'm coming back to read it in the midst of those dark winter days. I'm going to look it up anytime I need to be reminded of all the warmth of late-July. 

sage hedge

dinners outside

sun-colored hair and skin

flower pots by the front door

bare feet

picnics under trees

early mornings

and late evenings

sunglasses always affixed to my freckle face

wheat: crispy and knee high

gorgeous sunsets

Dear Self: I know the winter is dark and frigid, and the novelty of snow has worn off. I know that you are tired of shoveling the driveway, but please believe me when I tell you that summer will be back again. It will arrive at just the right time, and with it will come the tree-ripened fruit, the line-dried towels, the marshmallows, and the campfires. Before you know it the garden will be in full bloom, and you'll be wearing your bathing suit all day long. And Self... just in case you start to forget- please try to remember how happy you were in this season. Remember that it was a particularly lovely time in your life. Hang in there. Winter won't last forever. I promise. 

Back to the beach

Gorgeous day. 

ps. Want some goosebumps? Go watch this. Beautiful!

more summer eats

I know it doesn't exactly seem like soup weather...but this one might surprise you.

Seafood corn chowder with bacon and shrimp. It came together quick too!

So good (hard to have just one small bowl). Make it! 

Summer pasta

Jen was over last Friday and let's just say it had been a hell of a week. We both needed some comfort food. Pasta isn't something I usually indulge in...but desperate times call for desperate measures. We thought it best to start dinner with a little wine. (read: a little wine)

This is a great recipe for summer because it features zucchini which we all have too much of right now.

And basil, which we can never have too much of (growing heartily in my garden), 

and Parmesan cheese... which is good year-round (like every day!)

It's also pretty. That's important. 

The kids will eat it too. You can't say that about everything that comes out of my kitchen.

Besides, there are lots of ways to burn off the extra carbs...

Summer Pasta:

1 2/3 cup olive oil (divided)

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

3 T dijon mustard

6 cloves garlic sliced

1.5 # chicken breasts (I use 3)

2 red bell peppers

2 portabella mushroom caps

1 red onion

1 16oz pkg of penne pasta

1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup slivered fresh basil

salt and pepper to taste

** In a bowl whisk together 2/3 cup olive oil, soy sauce, vinegar, mustard, and garlic. Reserve 1/2 cup of this marinade for basting vegetables. Pour remaining marinade into a ziploc bag with thawed chicken and marinate about an hour or longer. Chop veggies and grill alongside the chicken basting with reserved marinade. (Jen and I didn't have men around so we didn't grill, we baked the chicken and sauteed the veggies. You can totally skip the grill... but sometimes it's nice to get the boys outside and save on the dirty dishes. If you do saute the veggies, just dump the reserved marinade into the pan while they are sizzling away). Boil pasta and drain. Mix in remaining cup of olive oil (I do a little less), Parmesan cheese, grilled/sliced chicken, and veggies into the cooked noodles. Garnish with basil. Add salt and pepper to taste. This makes a lot of pasta. I easily feed 6 adults with this recipe. 

Enjoy!!

relaxing

sitting in the waves.

laying under an umbrella.

standing next to him.

sleeping in a bed and breakfast....

hope your weekend was just as relaxing.

(oh, and just so you don't think I'm a total princess, I came home and mowed the grass.) 

In the news...

I know... I've been a slacker. Some of you have told me so. Sorry. I've just really been enjoying the summer. In fact, I think I could probably just live in this one forever.

We sure have been spending a lot of time at the pool. I think if you poked this girl, she would probably bleed chlorine. I'm so proud of her effort on swim team this year. You should see the little collection of 1st place ribbons she's got going. Hannah is kinda competitive...

I have no idea where she gets it. Sadly, I bailed on the triathlon. I was planning to compete (and dominate) this weekend... but I gave it up to go with Carl to his 20- year class reunion. I'm pretty bummed and feel like I'm totally wimping out, but I did get a new dress out of the deal. Hoping that makes up for it. Pics on Monday.

I'm missing Emma. She's been gone all week at camp. I'm counting the hours until she gets home. I haven't had any contact with her since she's been gone. I know she's having the time of her life...but I sure wish I would've slipped a cell phone in her suitcase. Can't wait to hear all about her adventures.

While she was gone we crashed a wedding. You should see the dance moves these girls have got going. They put me to shame (and crack me up)!

I just love getting dressed up. I need to go to more weddings.

The garden is booming. I've been slightly neglectful this past week. Too much pool time I guess.

We put the radishes to work in our fish tacos. Tasty.

And for dessert: lime sorbet + a tiny shot of tequila. Ooooh, it made me pucker!

We've had thunder and lightening almost every night. I love it, it's pretty. I hate it, we are surrounded by dry land wheat. No fires yet. Thank goodness.

So that's it. We're just busy playing. Yesterday I cleaned out the van and found 2 tennis rackets, 4 golf balls, 6! water bottles, 3 wet beach towels, and flip-flops galore! A messy little reminder of this happy season.

Soak it up!!

well that's pretty

interlaced fingers.

 

earings and ring.

margaritas made easy

sunset on my birthday. on my way home from hannah's swim meet. she won all her races. a sweet gift for mama.

lovely pallette. wish some of these things were hanging in my closet.

the perfume that the girls gave me for my birthday. i've been wearing this one for a couple of years now.

suitcase. for all the escaping that I'd love to do. luggage should be this beautiful.

 

breakfast the other day. these kids are eating me out of house and home. must be all the tennis and swimming and sunshine. 

thanks for all of the birthday wishes yesterday. have a lovely weekend.

::34::

"It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are."- EE Cummings

I am more me than I have ever been. It feels nice. I guess that comes with age? The older I get the more I seem to like who I am. At this point in my life I feel like I can be honest with myself. I know what I want and what I need. I'm getting better at taking ahold of it and leaving the guilt behind.  I'm also more gentle with myself. I'm forgiving past mistakes (hoping others will do the same) and allowing room for failure. So thankful for the grace that has been extended to me. 

I have, however, had some trepidation about this particular birthday. Age thirty-four was the last birthday my mother celebrated before she became quite ill with cancer. As my natural model, this is sort of where the blacktop ends with my mom. It's true I have a whole childhood of sweet and tender memories with her, but in terms of future reference-- it is fading each year that I get older. As I inwardly compare the time line of my mother's life to my own, I can see that up until now our lives have been very much the same. As much as I treasure my mother, and will always keep her close in my heart...this seems to be the place where we sort of part ways. Frightening and freeing. I am making my own map from here on out- and mostly as I go along. It's okay you know? I'm doing it (not always well) but I'm doing it. 

I am 34 today. I'm moving forward with love, and courage, and a spirit seeking adventure. I am happy, healthy, and alive. Thank you God.

I'm still catching up!

I spent the weekend with this girl...in her new farm stand. What a great combonation.

 It is really starting to come together. Yes, there is still A LOT of work to do... and there are many things that we will have to work on slowly, but for now the place is at least operational. 

And we were busy! 

Even the kids got in on the action and hosted a lemonade table (inside because it was 100+ outside)... 

When they weren't riding the 4 wheeler that is. 

The website is still in process, we are finalizing a few touches here and there. I'll keep the updates coming, thanks for being excited for us!

The 4th

We went up to the orchard to bbq.

There was lots of swimming.

Laurel jumped off the diving board (into my arms) without a life vest for the first time. 

Ian gave her a thumbs up-- or at least his version of thumbs up.

We ate food.

And watermelon on a stick.

And of course, there were fireworks! Oooh, Ahhh.

Hope your Independence Day Celebration was happy and safe! 

Sunday Morning

7:53am tee time. Because we're loud, and hit our balls zig-zag accross the course, and because we like to drive the carts a little faster than what is allowed.

Ian was trying REALLY hard to reach the pedals. By hole #8 he realized that he could just push it down with his hands. Thankfully I was standing nearby!

It was a georgous morning!

Laurel's "technique" makes me smile. She doesn't let her head get into her game. She just smiles and laughs when things don't go exactly her way.

Which is more than I can say for some...(ugh).

We just skipped the tee boxes and drove right up to the 150 yard markers. It still took us 2 hours to play nine, and keeping score was pointless. I know a few cheats in that group!

After a few holes Ian was demanding to get in on the action.

Later in the afternoon we enjoyed poolside ice cream. 

Whenever we get food or drinks at the country club I have to try so hard not to say "Charge it to the Underhills." Ha!