surfacing

It’s the day after Labor Day, which always feels like the first day of fall to me (to celebrate, I ran the car A/C so it would be chilly enough for me to wear my trench coat to work – yes, really). I am once again woefully behind on this blog! It’s been a busy summer – work has been overwhelming at times and really great at other times. Right now I’m in a “really great” phase, which is… really great.

We’ve also been traveling a lot in the past month! At the beginning of August we went to St. Louis to celebrate Seth’s best friend’s wedding. He married a delightful young woman named Elizabeth Ann who went to a Lutheran college and majored in English. So far the only difference we’ve found between us is that my middle name is spelled with an E. :) It was a lovely wedding, and we had so much fun staying with our good family friends at their amazing farm. We went swimming in their lake, met their alpacas, and enjoyed all kinds of fresh produce (peaches, tomatoes, corn, raspberries, cantaloupe, even freshly-harvested walnuts for our waffles!).


A couple of weeks later we flew to the Florida Gulf Coast to spend a week with Seth’s parents at the beach house of Seth’s aunt and uncle. If you haven’t been to Destin, Florida, you should go immediately. The colors of the sand and water are not to be believed. We had so much fun reading on the beach, playing in the ocean, and just relaxing. And we celebrated our fifth anniversary while there – Grandma and Grandpa took care of Anna while Seth and I went on a dolphin-sighting cruise and then for a delectable dinner of Chilean sea bass. I usually like to spend my vacations seeing all the sights in big cities, but then I come home feeling like I need a vacation! This was lazy, fun, and altogether fabulous and we came home tan and well-rested. Perfection!


I want to go every year... or maybe every month.

And now we are home... ready for fall. I really miss autumn in the midwest, but we do get fair amounts of changing colors here too (especially the yellow aspen in the mountains) and the scent of green chile roasting simply cannot be beat. Plus, my fall clothes (tweed! sweaters! boots!) are yearning to be worn. And then there are the apples and the pumpkins. Yes, I'm ready.

ETA: I just realized I am wearing the same necklace with three different outfits in this post. Not very original, am I?!

Happy July! (And Anna would like to wish her Grandma a very happy birthday today!)

Our friends were here for a night last week en route from Phoenix to Minneapolis. Here are two of our three girls playing together:


And here is one of our attempts to get all three girls in the same photo (while Mama adjusts a stuffed animal in the doll stroller in the background):


Thanks for visiting - we love you & hope you got home safely!

We had a nice, low-key Fourth complete with sunshine and splashing (see below). I feel like there is a lot going on but not much to show for it. Well, that's life in the fast lane, I guess. Have a great week!

it's almost july... !?!

{The above photo features Miss Anna playing with what I believe is a bottle of ketchup from her kitchen set... I really need to get up some more shots of her adventures with her kitchen and table/chairs. I thought she was a little young for that type of play but she absolutely loves them!}

This month has been absolutely insane. I have had 16 court appearances. Hmm, that doesn't really sound like that many for a month. That included a two-day trial, though, from which I am still recovering (and likely will be for quite some time). Anyway, the point is, I'm ready to flip the calendar to next month!

Last week I had a timely and wonderful opportunity for renewal, though, and attended a 3-day conference in Houston. It was actually a training event for the ELCA Partners in Evangelical Worship, which is a new grass-roots network to assist synods and congregations in "making connections between worship and mission, justice and service." You can read more about it here. Long story short, the event was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. I left feeling completely relaxed and invigorated at the same time. (And, the posh hotel room all to myself for three days didn't hurt either!)

Let's see, other goings-on... We are so excited that our dear friends are coming to see us for a night this week as they drive from Phoenix to Minneapolis! And, we are looking forward to the upcoming 3-day weekend, too. Now that the past month is over, it feels like our summer can finally begin. Happy almost-July!

anna went to minnesota!

(I was going to title this post "Anna Goes to Minnesota," but our trip was a month ago, so I thought past tense would be more accurate!)

A month ago we had a whirlwind weekend in the Twin Cities. Highlights included a picnic with our best friends to celebrate the upcoming birth of Baby H, brunch with our dear friend Melissa, dinner with Seth's cousins and their three kiddos (one of whom sustained an injury during our visit, which prompted Seth's cousin J to yell "We're going to the emergency room!!!"... luckily, that turned out not to be the case!), and staying with our dear friends and watching Anna & their daughter Ella have fun together.

So happy to be where there are trees!


Anna & her future husband Leif


The whole gang!

Very excited about something!

The parents-to-be


Melissa & Anna at The Egg & I

Cousin Nathan explaining the ways of the world

Cousin Payton preparing for big sisterhood (her brother Jack was just born yesterday!)

Pushing Ella's doll stroller

Four happy girls

stuffed turkey burgers

We made these last night & they were fantastic. Thanks to my friend Lindsey for linking to the recipe. They would be great with green chile, too!

Stuffed Turkey Burgers
{recipe from Food Network}

• 1 1/4 pounds lean ground turkey breast
• 1/2 cup chopped roasted red peppers
• 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 teaspoons salt
  
• Freshly ground black pepper

Divide turkey into 4 equal sized rounds. Make 2 equal sized patties out of each round so you have 8 patties total. Sprinkle 4 of the patties with 2 tablespoons red peppers and cheese, and top with remaining patties, working the turkey around the edges to seal burgers closed. Season with salt and a few grinds of pepper. Grill or broil until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.

chocolate peanut butter cupcakes

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

{recipe from Joy the Baker}

makes 24 cupcakes

• 2 1/4 cups organic* all-purpose flour
• 2 cups organic cane sugar
• 1 cup organic unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon organic vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup organic canola oil
• 2 teaspoons organic white vinegar
• 2 cups cold water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cupcake pans with paper liners and set aside.
In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the oil, water, vanilla extract and vinegar. Slowly whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients being careful not to overmix. The mixture will be quite wet, but that’s ok. Pour the batter until the cups are two thirds full and place in the oven for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cup comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes then place on a wire rack until completely cool before frosting.

Peanut Butter Frosting

enough to frost 24 cupcakes

• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 to 4 cups powdered sugar (depending on your desired consistency)
• 1 tablespoon milk (or water will do too)

In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with a paddle attachment, beat butter and peanut butter until creamy and virtually no butter lumps remain. Scrape down the bowl. Add three cups of powdered sugar and beat on low for 1 minute. Add milk and beat on medium high for 1 minute. Add the remaining cup of powdered sugar if you’d like your frosting a bit thicker. Slather frosting onto cooled cupcakes and top with coarsely chopped peanut butter cups.

* Note: I didn't use organic everything, but they were still good. ;)

happy june!

I'm back. More soon!