First Photo: Things Changed But They Didn't

Dwija is hosting a linkup over at her blog, House Unseen.  The gist of it is that you should post twelve (or so) photos that highlight your year.   I am not sure that I could come up with that many photos or that few photos to describe my year.

It’s not that I didn't take pictures.  I did.  They are mostly of gardens, trees, and flowers and of the best niece and God-daughter ever, Sara.  I didn't take a lot of other people or events.

I think the First Photo pictures are representative of my 2014.  Things changed but they didn't.

It’s the same tree, taken from the same location, month after month.  But, the seasons changed.  The sky and the weather and the other trees changed.  The tree stands tall and sturdy.  It changes but it doesn't.

That was my year.  Things changed but they didn't.  

We entertained a lot and spent a lot of time with family and with friends.  Some of them we see often and other friendships were long missed and joyfully renewed.

We worked in the gardens and had a harvest to show for the effort we expended.  We also dug out plants that were beaten down by the harsh winter we experienced.

I saw things in myself that I wanted to change, to improve upon.  I started eating better and exercising (at least until I couldn't).  I tried to watch less TV and read more.  And yet there's a lot more to be done.

A lot.

And that's what 2015 is for.

AMDG

Wonder Doubled: Restoration Work

We have a new post up at the USCCB website For Your Marriage.

Timothy:
There’s no such thing as a free pair of pants.  Donna came home from shopping with three new pairs of pants for me.  I liked them very much and thanked her for thinking of me.  She grinned and said, “I’m glad you like them.” as she sheepishly held up a broken piece of tail light from our car!  Apparently, an aggressive metal post attacked the rear bumper as Donna was cautiously backing out of a parking spot – the previous day.

 You can read the whole article here.


AMDG

Joy on a Gray Day

Yesterday has to have been one of the grayest, dreariest days I have seen in a long time.  It was like someone took a can of flat, gray paint and coated the sky in a dismal stainless steel color.  There was no texture, no clouds, nothing to break it up.

So, what's a girl to do?  Go to the park for a walk.  And, apparently someone felt the need to spread a little cheer.  It was much appreciated!

AMDG

Wonder Doubled: Holy Order

We have a new post up at the USCCB website For Your Marriage.

A finger painting is taped to a door of the hutch in my home office. Next to my laptop is a small wind-up toy monkey that swings on his knuckles across my desk. A little over two years ago my man-cave resembled a well-ordered English gentleman’s club. Our goddaughter had yet to be born, though! So, my bookshelves were exclusively filled with stodgy political and historical titles. The trinkets on the polished desktop were all in their proper places. And, most importantly, the green shade on my banker’s lamp was tilted just so.

You can read the whole article here.


AMDG

Soup-er Sunday: Tomato Bisque

My aunt and uncle used to live in western North Carolina.  It is such a beautiful area.  You could see the Appalachian Trail from their front porch.  Except for the almost eleven hour drive, we loved to visit them there. 

On a couple of our trips we went white water rafting on the Nantahala River.  In a guided, eight person raft, it was great fun.  In a double ducky, however, it was downright scary!  Let's just say the ducky trip didn't end quite as well as the guided one.

After we finally dried off, we needed to warm up so we stopped at a local restaurant along the river for lunch.  We ordered the soup of the day to eat with our sandwiches.  I don't have a clue what the sandwiches were, but the soup, a creamy tomato bisque, was so good we each ordered seconds!

When we got home from that trip I quickly got online on began searching for the closest approximation of that soup.  After several iterations, and a few tweaks, this is what I came up with. 

Italian Tomato Bisque

Ingredients:
2 pounds Roma Tomatoes                      
1 medium onion -- sliced thin
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 whole cloves                                     
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons fresh basil -- chopped fine
½ pint half-and-half
1 cup milk
Directions:
Blanch the tomatoes until skin comes loose, then skin, seed, and chop coarsely.  (When I don't have good, homegrown tomatoes, I cheat here and use a quart of tomato sauce that I canned the previous summer)

Sauté onion in butter a few minutes, then add all ingredients except the milk and cream. Simmer for about 25 minutes, and remove the cloves. Transfer to a blender or food processor, and puree. Add half-and-half, and the milk.  Cook until warmed through.

Enjoy!

AMDG

First Photo - December

The Linden dropped its leaves just a few days after the November photo was taken.  Per usual, they went all at once: attached to the tree when we went to bed one evening, and on the ground the next morning.

November felt like that, everything happening all at once.  The temperature dropped precipitously.  Snow flew fast and furious.  Daylight disappeared giving us drastically shorter days.

It feels like December should be the month to hunker down and just be.  But it won't.  With Advent and Christmas there is going to be a lot of going and doing.  That's probably good, because the weather and light makes me want to hibernate.  I want to eat and sleep and read good books under a blanket next to the fire.  Maybe next month.

AMDG

Soup-er Sunday: Chorizo Sweet Potato

I love to cook and I love to feed people.  I have been wanting to write more.  A friend once told me that if you want to be a writer, you need to write, regularly.  So, I am going to try to put the writing and the cooking together and, on Sundays, post my favorite thing to make: soup.

There is nothing like a good bowl of soup.  Now that the weather has turned colder it is a meal I frequently make.  I have found that the best soups are usually fairly simple to make.  When they start getting complicated, they lose my interest and oftentimes just aren't all that good.

There are so many good recipes out there that we never have to have the same thing twice.  When the soup turns out especially good, like this one did, it goes in my personal cookbook.

I usually can read a recipe and determine if it something we are going to like.  I cannibalized several recipes I found online to get this version.  Most of the ones I found were heavy-handed in adding seasonings.  If you can find a good Chorizo, you will have plenty of flavor already there.

Chorizo Sweet Potato Soup

Ingredients:
1 pound Chorizo sausage
6-8 cups of chicken stock
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and dices
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 medium onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Place sweet potatoes in large pot and cover with chicken broth. Bring to a rolling boil and then turn temperature down to gentle simmer.  Cook until sweet potatoes are soft when pricked with a fork.




In a separate pan, brown sausage, breaking it up into small pieces as it cooks.

Add carrots, celery and onion to sausage and cook until slightly softened.

 Using an immersion blender, puree potatoes to desired consistency.  I left the mixture just a little bit chunky.  Add sausage mixture.  Season with salt and pepper as needed.  Simmer on low 20-30 minutes.

Enjoy!








I used homemade chicken stock so I can safely say that this is gluten free.  If using store bought broth, check the package.

AMDG

REMINDER: Advent Prayer Buddies

Just a reminder that there is still time to sign up for Advent Prayer Buddies.  Most likely I will be doing the assignments on Friday and sending emails out shortly thereafter.

Those interested in participating, please email me at:

prayerbuddy@roadrunner.com

I will need from you is:

Your first name or first initial
Your blog address (or email address if you are not a blogger)
Your intentions

Optional:

Your full name
Your address
(Address can be provided if your Prayer Buddy plans to send you a small gift at Christmas)

AMDG 

Wonder Doubled: An Inspiring Half Century

We have a new post up at the USCCB website For Your Marriage.

Timothy:
Donna just reached a birthday which often results in those of us who have experienced it declaring: “That can’t be right, I don’t feel that old!” So, we had a wonderful group of family and friends over last weekend to celebrate the occasion. A few weeks ago, I began to collect some old photos for the usual poster board of memories. When the collection of photographs and souvenirs outgrew my office work space, I knew I’d need many more poster boards.

You can read the whole article here.


AMDG

Picture This

A couple of Saturdays ago Himself and Sis threw me a birthday party.  It was epic.  No, really, in my mind it was.  They invited family and friends that are important to me.  There were a few friends I hadn't seen in far too long (my fault, mea culpa)  and others we see frequently.  It was fun to catch up with all that was going on in everyone’s life.  Afterwards I promised myself that it is not going to be a year or two or four until the next time we see each other.

For some of the decorations Himself put together a number of picture boards.  He spent weeks secretly, and then not so secretly, going through photo albums, boxes of trinkets, and scrapbooks finding mementos of my life.  He created boards of my travels and hobbies, friends and family.  Oh what fun it was to look at them all!

“Around the World in Fifty Years” had pictures of a Jaycee trip to Hawaii, and my adventures in Europe and Russia.  Our engagement pilgrimage to Rome was also featured as well as our trips to Chicago and Virginia Beach.

One board was mostly things I did with the Jaycees.  There were the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame run and the radio celebrity golf outing projects that I chaired.   Parties, mud volleyball, bowling, and a night at the races were on that board as well.

Himself found photos and artifacts that I had forgot existed.  When I earned the Girl Scout Gold award way back when I received a letter from President Reagan congratulating me on the achievement.  I didn't remember that at all.

The best part of these boards, though, was the stories they invoked the night of the party and the days since then.  It was such a joy to share the memories with everyone.  I often heard Remember this? and I forgot about that and Did you really. . . ?

We remembered where our lives joined and intersected, times that were important or fun.  Weddings, graduations, family vacations - they were all there.  We thought about people who aren't with us any longer and ones that are a distance away.  Silliness and seriousness were pictured, too.

I have always been a prolific picture taker.  But all too often I take the photo, look at it and then file it away, never to be seen again.  If that occurs, what was the point of taking the picture in the first place?

Yes, the party was epic.  I viewed my past, thought about the future, and, most of all, enjoyed the present.


AMDG


 PS. And, no, I didn't really run with bulls or jump out of an airplane.  Himself is just really good with Photoshop!