Never Forget.

I was a freshman in college, my first full week of classes at Ohio University. I had just moved into the dorms a week earlier, leaving my family and friends behind, almost five hours from home. I got back from my Poli Sci class to my roommate watching it all unfold on TV. Honestly, beyond that, the only other things I remember is my mom calling me crying, wanting me to come home and my dad being suspiciously quiet on the phone that night. I remember prayer vigils that night and throughout the rest of the week and then everything went back to normal.

It wasn't until many years later, after I had kids of my own that the full impact of 9/11 hit me. I remember two years ago, on the 10 year anniversary, pregnant with Gavin, teeter-tottering between agonizing over how I could bring another life into a horrible, broken world and touched by the humanness that shown through that awful day, the day after and in different moments since then. Every year, I grieve with those who lost loved ones, think about the survivors and pray for the true heroes...firefighters, police offices, soldiers. The ones who deserve our thanks every day of the year, not just on Patriots Day. 

I decided to start a new tradition this year. Liesl colored several pictures, very carefully wrote her name and asked me how to spell "thank you". Seeing her childish scribbles spell out such a powerful message broke me. I wish we could all speak compliments, kind words and gratefulness from our heart so easily and without pretense. 

We took the pictures to our local fire station and told the firefighters thank you for their service today and always. They gave us a mini tour of the huge ladder truck and even let Liesl give the driver's seat a go :) I know a few colored pictures is not adequate enough thanks for all that firefighters, police officers and soldiers do for us, but I thought it was a great start to teach my children. I want to teach them that a horrific day in September changed our country and so many lives forever, but that despite the awfulness of it all, we came out stronger as a country, as a people. I want to teach them to love, to empathize, to be proud of our country and to stand up for what they believe. I want to teach them to give thanks freely, especially to those who truly deserve it. I want to teach them to keep their faith in our sovereign God. 

I want to teach them to never forget.

I Saw, I Pinned, I Conquered, Part Three

I love having pictures of family and friends all around the house, but I was starting to run out spots to put frames on shelves and such. Several years ago, we went to the Indianapolis Home Show and the showcase home had a beautiful photo gallery going up the staircase. I especially loved the groupings of four and five picture frames together and had seen them in stores, but knew they were pretty expensive. So, we took $1 and $2 Goodwill and garage sale picture frames, glued them together, repainted all one color and added a hook to hang. Some of the frames we kept their original color. Instant and cheap photo collages! I've started to intersperse other single picture frames among the large groupings to create a photo gallery down the stairway.

Last year, my hubby built a pergola over our back patio. I've always loved all the different mason jar lighting and chandeliers that are all over Pinterest, but again, to buy them, they are pretty expensive. Instead, we made our own from a $9 wine barrel ring, 4 mason jars we found from the Lakeside Collection (found here) that had the hooks and lights already in them and were only $5 a piece, 4 hooks and some black chain.Instant lighting charm :)

Canned Sweet Banana Peppers

I recently gotten into canning, somewhat of a lost art. My grandma used to can all the time and my cousins and I loved helping her. I especially loved the canned strawberry jam. Nothing better than homemade, sugary goodness :)

One of the reasons I wanted a garden was to be able to have lots of veggies for canning and boy did I get what I wanted! My banana peppers are growing like crazy, so I've canned several pints. We love sweet banana peppers on salads, fajitas, cheesesteaks and other recipes calling for peppers. 

Here's my recipe:


Canned Banana Peppers
From Food.com

1/2 lb banana pepper, seeded and sliced crossways into rings
Pickling Juice
2 cups white vinegar
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
Directions:
Sterilize 2- 1/2 pint jars.
Bring the vinegar, sugar, mustard seed and celery seed to a rolling boil.
Place peppers in the 1/2 pint jars.
Pour on the hot pickling juice and bring liquid to within 1/2" of the top.
Be sure the edge of the jar has no juice on it.
Place lids and screw on bands finger-tip tight.
Seal jar and leave for 2 weeks.**.
**This is an heirloom recipe that uses a method no longer recommended by the USDA/NCHFP (National Center for Home Food Preservation). Current guidelines recommend processing in a boiling water bath at least 10 minutes at sea level to 1000 feet in elevation (more time at higher elevations) and left to cool, upright and undisturbed, on a cloth-protected counter for 24 hours. Check for seal; if the jar hasn't sealed, either re-process the jars within the 24 hours or refrigerate and use first.

Freezing Avocados

We love avocados in our house...we eat them with Mexican dishes, make lots of guacamole and even use them as a substitute for mayo on sandwiches. I like to stock up when Kroger has them 10 for $10, but unfortunately, sometimes we don't eat them fast enough.

On Pinterest (of course), I saw someone who froze their avocados. You cut them in half, take out the pit and wrap in saran wrap and then place in freezer bags. 

I'm not sure what I did wrong, but my avocados came out of the freezer brown and as I let them de-thaw, they got even browner :( I think this is a great concept, but I'm not sure it's possible...anyone else try freezing avocados? Any tips??

I'm Not Judging

I recently came across this blog, Rants from Mommyland, and I cannot get enough! It's so funny and real-life and true and you just have to read it. Trust me, if you're a mom, you'll love it. Even if you're not a mom, you'll still find a lot of the posts hilarious. 

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the post Everyone is Losing Weight at Me. Not because I'm necessarily trying to lose weight, but because it made some great points about mom-petition, basically how moms try to outdo one another all.the.time. I still fall prey to the competitive line of thinking, but have gotten much better as my kids have gotten older. 

I hope this blog does not come off as judging or condescending. I don't want to eat clean AT you, I just want to share my experiences. I don't hate people who eat preservatives and I don't believe this lifestyle is necessarily for everyone. I blog to keep myself accountable to my eating goals and because I love to write. If someone benefits from my musings, yay!

Happy Anniversary!

My hubby and I celebrated 8 years of marriage this week! It's so funny to look back because it was only eight years ago, but we looked like babies back then :) 

We celebrated by seeing Mumford and Sons in concert on Monday night....AHHMAZING!!! Made my list of top three concerts of all time.

On our anniversary, we made a yummy steak dinner at home complete with creamed spinach, cheesy mushrooms and Paper Moon wine.

 

Here's to many more blessed years!

I Saw, I Pinned, I Conquered, Part Two

When we finished our basement, my one requirement was a really nice laundry room. If my washer and dryer have to be in the basement, I want them to be in a nice room. I also wanted my laundry room to serve as a craft/wrapping room too, so I was on the lookout for storage to go in it. Everything I found that was new was pretty expensive, so, of course, I turned to Pinterest and found tons of refinished pieces. 
The dressing table was free from a friend of a friend (thanks Sarah and Amy!). After a good sanding, several coats of gray paint, new knobs and inexpensive scrapbook paper inside the windows on the drawers, it went from plain to pizzazz!. 

I also wanted some cute wall decor that wouldn't cost a lot, and found that someone on Pinterest had taken plain canvases and wrapped them in fabric. Instead of canvases, I found the canvas frames at Michael's for cheap (around $2-3 per frame) and covered in fabric (found in the discount bin for $1.99 a yard). Voila! Instant wall art for just a few dollars.