Winter Days

It’s officially 2008…unbelievable! Honestly, how many times have you written “2007” since January 1st? I’ve made my fair share of mistakes.

We really had a nice time over the holidays but are thankful that the rush is over. Now we can sit back and just enjoy Winter. We were so blessed this morning by the snow falling on our way to church. Doesn't happen often here so when it does, it's exciting for everyone (including the drivers). Having grown up in a snowy state, Hubby gets a little perturbed by the folks driving 20 mph just because they see a few flakes of snow (when the roads are nothing but damp). Can you blame him? Still, the slow commute to church was well worth the view and the pure, clean snow was a great reminder that God wants to bless us all in a fresh, new way this year.

Speaking of Winter, one of my favorite things about this time of year is homemade soup. Yep, it's simple, ol' soup. Soup is tough to get away with making in the summer because it's hot and that's when salads are "in" (yipee.). During the Winter you don't have to be sick to crave soup. You can make it as often as you want because it's the great comfort food of the season. Plus, there are many varieties, most are sooo easy to make, it warms your belly, can be fun to slurp (in other countries it's perfectly normal!), and is a sneaky way to slip the veggies in. I recently made this recipe (adapted from Allrecipes.com) along with easy homemade foccacia and it was yummy. Do you have a favorite soup recipe to share?

Italian Sausage Soup

1 pound Italian sausage (I use mild, turkey or chicken Italian sausage)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
½ onion, chopped
1 to 1 1/2 boxes+ of chicken broth (the original recipe calls for beef broth)

1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style stewed tomatoes with juice
1 cup sliced carrots
1 (14.5 ounce) can great Northern beans, undrained
2 small zucchini, cubed
2 cups spinach - packed, rinsed and torn
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Approx 2 Cups prepared Orzo pasta or rice (I used left over brown rice)
Grated Parmesan Cheese (topping)

On the stove top, brown sausage with onion and garlic in a large pot or Dutch oven. Stir in broth, tomatoes and carrots, and season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in beans with liquid, pasta (or rice) and zucchini. Add more broth depending on how much liquid you like in soups. Cover, and simmer another 15 minutes, or until zucchini is tender. Remove from heat, and add spinach. Replace lid allowing the heat from the soup to cook the spinach leaves. Soup is ready to serve after 5 minutes. Top with cheese. Enjoy!

*** I used a Slow-Cooker (a.k.a., "Crockpot") and just browned the sausage, onion and garlic first. Place rest of ingredients (except zucchini, spinach and pasta/rice) in Slow-Cooker on low for 6-8 hrs. Add Zucchini and Spinach approx 2 hrs before complete. Add pre-cooked pasta or rice at the end.***

Our "Non" New Year's Resolution

Call it what you like---over-eating, gluttony, binging, self-indulgence, porking-out, unrestrained gratification---Here are just a few of the excessive items we ate over the Christmas holiday (and this only includes foods from the past week!):

• Crown roast of pork with sausage apple cornbread stuffing
• Turkey, mashed potatoes and all the fixin’s
• Lobster bisque (made with real cream I’m sure!)
• Lasagna
• Artichoke dip and chips (gotta love the artichoke jalapeño dip from Costco)
• Berry pie ala mode
• Bundt cake with whipped cream
• Chocolate peppermint brownies
• Chocolate mints
• Chocolate peppermint bark
• Frosted sugar cookies
• Egg-nog french toast
• Chai tea topped whipped cream

Wow. Typing all of that out makes me realize it’s even worse than I thought. No wonder my jeans are feeling even tighter.

Now that we've gotten that all out on the table (no pun intended), our family is jumping on the bandwagon. No, not the “make-a-New Year’s-resolution-to-get-fit-only-to-fail-later” wagon but rather the “make-a-commitment-to-get-fitter-starting-now” wagon. Technically, since it’s still 2007 we have slightly increased our odds to succeed. Based on the definition in the infamous Wagner dictionary, early-declaration automatically disqualifies this from being considered a sure-to-fail New Year’s resolution.

Hubby is planning to start riding his bike a few days/week to work (yep, for those of you still wondering, he is starting a new job in January). We’re super thankful that he will no longer have over an hour commute each direction. Now, it will only take that long when he’s biking! We bought a new lighting system for his bike (who knew those could be so expensive?). I just couldn't convince him of my idea to duct-tape flashlights to the front and back fenders.

For my part, I’m planning to run a ½ marathon with some friends this Spring. Running should theoretically motivate me to eat less (though it's not worked to date). How much nicer would it be to have less weight for these short legs to carry as they pound the pavement over and over and over again? For Christmas I got a new heart rate monitor gadget, running tights (I feel sorry for the poor souls lagging behind when I'm wearing those) and custom orthotics. I have all the gear so I really have no good excuse. Yet.

One final disclaimer: Since we still haven’t gotten our backyard in as we’d said we were going to, and obviously don’t always follow-through, feel free to ask us how we are doing in say…another year or two.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours. This is the day we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. We are so thankful for all that He has done and continues to do. His faithfulness cannot be shaken.




P.S. The Christmas shopping did indeed get finished (today!).

Count Down to Christmas

For those of you who read this post from last week, rest assured that our "busy-ness" and the resulting feelings of overwhelming stress are starting to settle down. Our family was down to only 2 physical therapy appointments, 1 doctor's appointment and Hubby negotiating 1 new job offer this week. Plus, I'm happy to report that the Christmas shopping is progressing (still not complete but advances have been made).

Now, rather than giving into the holiday rush, we are looking forward to celebrating Christmas. Let the count-down begin!

Slowing Dowwwwnnnnnnn...

Is anyone else feeling the rush of the Christmas season? I have to confess that this week, I'm guilty of giving into the overwhelming feelings of stress. It's not that I've been busy trying to make our home look like this (wouldn't that be lovely?!):


Instead, it is the stress of normal L.I.F.E. In one week, our small family has had one job interview, 3 doctors appointments and 2 Physical Therapy appointments all on top of our normal daily activities and work. Add preparing for the upcoming holidays, needing to clean a messy house and dealing with a backlog of laundry and "POOF!" my brain cells start to vaporize. All of you moms out there with more than one kiddo, I don't know how you do it this time of year. I have total admiration for each of you.

All this "busy-ness" has reminded me to step back and sit quietly for a moment. To listen to what Jesus really wants us to reflect on during the holiday season. To remember that Christmas really is about Him coming in human form, as a child born to the virgin Mary, to later die on the cross and be raised up again so that we may have eternal life.

I still have a lot to get done before Christmas approaches (I'm always such a procrastinator when it comes to Christmas shopping). I'm sure I'll continue to have moments of anxiety due to all my "to do's". Many of you are probably feeling likewise. Even in all of this, let's do our best to remind each other to slow down, focus on Jesus and enjoy this holiday season.

It's Game Day!

Our apologies to the millions of readers that we have out there in blogsphere (ha! ha!). We really haven't gone away, we've just been busy like everyone else with the Thanksgiving holiday. Honestly, I'm also suffering from a bought of writer's block. I haven't exactly recovered from the block but we did want to recognize the big "Civil War" game today.

One of our nearest and dearest friends, Jack, is an avid Duck fan (don't hold that against him, other than that, he's next to perfect!). Since Jack is so important to us, we've really been trying to feel sympathy for the Ducks this year. To go from being ranked #2 in the nation to losing their starting...and 2nd string and potentially even their 3rd string...QB's is a serious roller coaster ride and does deserve a little emotional outpouring. So we, along with our Beaver fan friends Robert and Samantha, even walked into a Duck store last weekend to buy Jack a birthday present. It was painful, but we made it happen. It wasn't hard to find a cheezy gift there. Take a peek:

Here's our Little Miss with Jack's present. Poor girl, notice the look on her face? She's thinking "Mom! WHY am I holding this thing? The colors are just so wrong! Who would choose that tone of green and yellow? Yuck!"

More..."I can't do this. I'm soooo embarrassed by the 'O'. Cover it up, cover it up!"
Well Jack, we tried. Guess the Little Miss is just too smart to pose with a fuzzy "Ducky" stocking. She did have one last thing to tell you though, "Go Beavs!"

(I know I very well may regret this post after the game today but I just couldn't resist. We do love you Jack!)

Thankful for the little things

As Thanksgiving Day approaches I’ve been thinking more and more about the “little” things in life that I’m grateful for. Of course I’m most thankful for God, family, friends, health, our country and the provision of all of our physical needs. I’m thankful to be a wife and mom and daughter. When I reflect back on last November 20th, I’m extra thankful to have our Little Miss home with us as it’s been exactly a year since she was discharged from the hospital.

Even with all of that, I keep being reminded of the less important things in life that bring a smile to my face. It’s these things that I often take for granted and overlook as I go about my day. Here are just a few things that come to mind. I am thankful for:

• Our Garage. It’s so nice to be able to park in a warm, dry place (thank you Hubby for the sacrifice that you make by parking your car outside!).
• Chai Tea. My latest addiction. What a great treat to have a cup of steamy, decaf Chai in the evening while sitting next to the fireplace in a comfy chair, covered with a soft chenille blanket (add Norah Jones playing softly in the background and it would be perfect).
• Drive-thru Coffee Stands. These little businesses are an incredible invention! I so enjoy stopping by the one near our house to order my “soy latte with sugar-free vanilla and hazelnut syrup” (It may be a strange order but I do feel special when the servers have my order memorized. Really, I only stop once…maybe twice…a week).
• Migrating Birds. We get thousands this time of year flying over our house and resting in the fields nearby. I am fascinated by the sounds they make and their meticulous formations. How DO they do that?
• Slow-Cooker Chicken Taco Soup. Yum! Enough said.
• My Bed. I love climbing into our comfy bed at night and snuggling under the down comforter. Webster should have that as the definition of C-O-Z-Y!
• Sweaters. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always had an obsession for soft, warm sweaters. Turtlenecks, cardigans, V-necks or crew-necks. Plain, stripes or patterns. Cashmere (I wish), lambs wool or angora (wait, not angora. I must be allergic because it always makes me sneeze). Sweaters are one clothing staple that I wouldn’t want to do without.
• Elliptical Machine. Odd to be thankful for something that results in sweat and hard work but I am happy that my Hubby agreed to let me get one last year. That way I don’t feel too guilty when I skip my runs because it’s cold and wet outside.

There's obviously a "theme" here. Can you tell it’s been raining and chilly lately? Since it’s almost Thanksgiving, I’ll even sum up the courage to be thankful for THAT. This week.