4-wheelin'

Last weekend, we headed down the road to see our friends Randy & Emily & Seth & Jared for some 4-wheelin' fun. We really enjoyed spending the day with them and visiting and riding.

Jared, ready to speed away on the zoom-zoom.

Seth waiting patiently for everyone to get their gear on and get moving.

Gary and Michael ready to go.

Michael, who did not like stopping for breaks, had Emily give him a ride around the yard too (please, please, please).

My turn to give the boy a ride.

Michael and Jared taking a break together.

Every time we would stop riding and take a break, Michael would sign "more", "go", "please" and then lead G over to the 4-wheelers. He was in heaven...he loves anything outside and fast.

Gary taking Michael through the dip of water (lots of splashing fun)!

The boys waiting for me to catch up (again). I kept stopping to snap a few pics...I couldn't help myself.

What a fun time and a beautiful day of nice weather. Thanks for having us over to play...we can't wait to come back to visit!

Happy Birthday to....ME!

Yippeee! It's my birthday today! I actually enjoy bdays because it's a day that everyone has to be nice to me (the diva that I am!). The fact that this bday is one with a zero hasn't really fazed me at all or made me feel old. That is, until I went to the GRACE event at church Saturday....and I was asked if I was Carole's sister-in-law (for those that don't know, Carole is my M-I-L). Then later that same day, I was asked if I was Carole's sister! While I was smiling politely through my teeth and starting to feel MORE than my age, Carole was getting quite a chuckle out of this. On the other hand, I think that both Carole and my mom really look waaay younger than they are...they are both SO COOL!

And since G came home from work carrying a bday cake from my favorite bakery, all is right in my world. Yummy!!

Oh yeah, it's definitely all right now (baby, it's all right now.....name that song/band).

I'm back!

Hey long time no bloggy! What a whirlwind the last week or so has been. Let me try and catch you up...cuz I know you just can't live without these thrilling updates!

The week of 9/11, the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall came to our town so I took the family to check it out. My dad, as well as G's dad, were both stationed in Germany during Vietnam: my dad in the Army and G's dad in the Air Force.

Okay, as a side note, I'd like to mention that I think it is so COOL that G's sister and I were both born in the same German town and that G was in that same little town in Germany when I was born...just sayin' it must've been meant to be.

While we were there, I called my dad and asked if there was anyone I could look up for him, take a picture of their name, do a pencil rubbing, whatever else. His platoon sergent did a 2nd tour in Vietnam and during that tour he had a heart attack and died at age 39 (how sad! and how young!). SFC La Flame was the guy who arranged my first meeting with my dad. My dad was out in the field when I was born and La Flame sent a jeep to the field to bring my dad to the hospital.

When G's mom took her grandson (our nephew), I asked if I could tag along to take some more pictures at night with the full moon (still need lots of practice with nighttime shots).

I was glad to go with them, especially with G's mom being such a huge history buff.
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Then that weekend, we had a flippin' HURRICANE...in Ohio (thanks Ike)! Winds up to 78 mph! We've had high winds in Ohio before (think tornadoes), but to have it be that windy and for so long (noon until 9pm??)...it was just crazy. I even happened to be looking out the window when part of our biggest tree split. Luckily, we didn't lose power like our parents and most folks did (some STILL don't have power over a week later).

Look at what the wind was doing to our little tree. It was so strong it broke the straps holding the tree in place.

Who knows if our now very crooked tree will survive. During the wind gusts, I swear I could see the actual mulch/roots of the tree moving. I thought for sure that it would uproot.
And now we have some logs for our neighbor's firepit and gma's fireplace.

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This past weekend G's mom and I took part in our church's 1st annual women's conference called G.R.A.C.E. (Girlfriends Redeemed and Celebrating Eternity). That was a great day!

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Oh, and I want to wish a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my sis-in-law Tina today! I hope you are enjoying your day!!

Happy Birthday Keyqua!

Happy Birthday to my sweet, wonderful sister! :)

I love you and miss you tons!

deep thinking

I am often asked why I started this blog. The main reason was to share what we have been up to with our friends and family. As I began reading more blogs, I realized that this blog is also a creative outlet for me to connect with other creative people.

Reading one such blog this morning, I was captured by Jessica's quote of the day from Anais Nin, "We write to taste life twice. Once in the moment, and once in retrospection." I couldn't agree more. I can think of a couple more ways to taste life twice, aside from writing: photography and scrapbooking. Interestingly enough, I find myself doing all three (not nearly as much as I want to though). It makes my head and my heart feel happy to be able to take that second bite of life, when the first bite might have gone by too quickly to remember. That's especially important to remember on such a somber day like today.

And as one of my favorite bloggers, Karen, says: a post isn't a post without a picture. So here ya go:

PS: I am so excited to be taking Karen's upcoming photography course this November (her 2 classes sold out in less than TWO MINUTES)! I took a one-day photographer's workshop from her when she was in town a couple years ago and she was fabulous! I can't wait to learn more.

hopes and dreams

A friend of ours sent us this video and let me tell you that it makes me cry every time I've watched it. Part of it is the reaction of the team and crowd - what good kids they are to be so supportive.

(scroll down to the music player and turn it off so you can hear the video)

Who knows, maybe one day Michael will have something like this happen. The way he loves basketball and golf...it could, ya never know.

bath time

Michael and I took advantage of the nice weather to give Arty a bath. Being a well-trained dog (thank you CCI!), Arty listened and obeyed commands during bathtime, but that didn't mean he would have to enjoy it.

Michael even stood up and held on to Arty to help shampoo. Usually, Michael just plays in the water and watches, so it was cool to have Michael more involved this time.

Yea for a clean doggie and the little boy that loves him!

prayers

Gary's cousin, George, was in a car wreck on Saturday. From what we were told, a car ran a stop sign at Ostrander Rd. and 36. One of George's 8-year-old twin daughters was killed (same age as Michael).

If you're the praying type, any prayers for their family would be much appreciated.

mexican lasagna

This recipe is adapted and tweaked from a recipe I found on Pioneer Woman (Pastor Ryan's Mexican Lasagna). This creation will make 2 - 9x13 casseroles...one to eat now and one you can freeze for those crazy, busy nights when don't have time or you don't have the energy to cook dinner (you know you have those nights...we all do). And if I am honest with myself, it happens to me 4-5 nights out of the week.

mexican lasagna

INGREDIENTS

2 cups unprepared instant rice
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 tomatoes, diced (I didn’t have fresh toms, so I used ½ a can of petite diced tomatoes)
1 onion, diced (G doesn’t care for onions, so I only used ½ an onion)
4 cloves garlic
2 pounds lean ground beef
8 cups Mexican blend cheese
1 can of corn, drained
1 can of black beans
2 – 16 oz. jars of Salsa Verde (I used Ortega’s green taco sauce)
1 can of enchilada sauce
2 ½ TBSP chili powder
2 ½ TBSP paprika
2 ½ TBSP cumin
1-2 TBSP of butter
3 ounces water
1 pkg flour tortillas (approx 12 small or 8 medium)

TOPPINGS

sour cream
cilantro (we didn’t use, because I don’t like it)
green olives (G’s topping, not mine)


DIRECTIONS

Begin by preparing rice using the chicken broth. In a large pan, sauté with a tablespoon or two of butter, the diced onions, tomatoes, and garlic. Add 1 TBSP of chili powder, 1 TBSP of paprika, and 1 TBSP of cumin. Stir until nicely combined. Next, stir in the black beans. Then, mix the rice together with the tomato/onion/garlic/bean mixture.

Brown the ground beef and drain. Add 1 ½ TBSP chili powder, 1 ½ TBSP paprika, and 1 ½ TBSP cumin with about 3 ounces of water to the beef, creating your own taco beef.

Pour half a jar of salsa verde in the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish. Layer on tortillas to cover the salsa verde. Some overlapping is expected. Divide rice/bean mixture into 4 (2 layers for each casserole) and spread a layer over the tortillas. Next, layer 2 cups of cheese. Add another layer of tortillas on top of the cheese layer. Pour ½ can of enchilada sauce over the tortillas and spread it out evenly. Divide ground beef in half (one for each casserole) and add a layer over the enchilada sauce. Add ½ a can of corn as the next layer, followed by another layer of rice/beans and the remaining ½ jar of salsa verde, on top of which you will add 2 cups of cheese to the top…this is the final layer of ingredients.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25-35 minutes until cheese has melted and begins to brown a bit.

Top with dollop of sour cream, olives, cilantro, or whatever else sounds good to you.

Enjoy!


Note: Repeat layering with 2nd casserole, do not bake, cover with foil and place in freezer. I write the cooking directions on the foil because I’ll never remember how to cook it a month from now or in case G wants to get dinner ready w/o me. Thaw, remove foil, and bake at 375 for 25-35 minutes should suffice.