This Week's Menu

There is a woman who lives in Belize in a three room house with no electricity.  She likes plants and finds joy in watching flowers grow.  She gets four bags of corn delivered to her everyday.  She processes them, and gets rid of the waste, reducing the bags to three.  Then, she ships them to her mother and family who live on a nearby island that has no produce at all.  

I met her last week when I was on a mission trip with the youth group at my church.  We talked for almost two hours, and it felt like I was with a friend getting coffee.  We are worlds apart, but so very similar.  

This week, when I write my menu, I think about her.  I think about what we eat and how I view food.  I'm constantly trying to get more whole foods in our rotation, but now I'm wanting to do so in an easy, simpler way.  Here's what we're eating this week:

Basil tomato linguini

Cream of asapragus soup and tomato-cheddar sandwiches

Turkey-avocado sandwiches and cantalope 

Cajun chicken pasta

Salmon, rice pilaf, and green beans.

Adventuresome, A Guest Post

Today, I've asked Molly from WanderLost to talk about adventures.  That's what I love most about her blog.  Whenever I visit, I always get so excited about going on an adventure, small or large.  She'll have you driving with the windows down, making your own cutoffs, smiling big, and calling your friends to go play-something we could all be inspired to do more!

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Last week Ben & I celebrated our 5^th wedding anniversary. We were on a road trip to South Carolina & had the opportunity to reflect on all the adventures we’ve had over the years. I’m just a simple girl from Kentucky, working a normal 9-5 job, saving every penny, and playing hard by taking as many trips as possible. We have a little urban farm—2 pups, 12 chickens, and 3 sweet bee hives—when I’m not digging in my garden, I’m typically on the porch with Ben planning our next excursion.

That being said, I thought I’d write a list of a few places that I think everyone should visit before they die. My list goes far beyond these 10, but these are some that I’ve already checked off:

1. See mountain goats in Glacier National Park.

2. Jump off of a cliff in Cinque Terre.

3. Scuba dive in Mexico.

4. See or summit Mt. Rainier.

5. Hike on the Appalachian Trail.

6. Eat wild blueberries on the Blue Ridge Mountains.

7. Eat crepes filled with nutella & bananas at the base of the Eifel Tower at midnight.

8. Sit on a bench in Washington Square Park in New York City.

9. Go fly-fishing & catch a rainbow trout.

10. Go horseback riding in the Badlands.

Family Hospitality, A Guest Post

Cameron is a cutie and if you are friends with her on facebook, go spend 2 hours looking at all her pictures.  They are so much fun and you will smile at them all.  I told her that I liked all her dinner party pics and asked her to say something about hospitality.  She had great things to say:


I grew up in a home that shaped my joy for hospitality.  Under mama’s roof, one would usually find a load of laundry sitting in the chair in the living room, a little dust on the piano, and probably a pile of clutter on my “dad’s counter” scattered with coins, papers, and receipts.   This never stopped her from opening her door to any and everyone who came to her house.  This is a policy I’ve tried to take on as my own—to resist the temptation to strive for the perfect home—let it go, and enjoy whatever or whoever comes to my doorstep.  That being said… I am learning to delight in having a home for hosting and not worshiping it.  Delighting in hospitality allows me to laugh when the across-the-street, beer-bellied neighbor is mowing his lawn shirtless during a wedding shower for everyone to see.  It also allows me to give more attention to relationships than it does the dirty dishes in my sink.  All that being said, here are a few photographs and comments of my not so perfect, but regardless, hospitable home!

Fresh flowers always brighten up a room. Always.

I love napkins.  These were one of my favorite wedding gifts I received.  One of my friends hosted a shower for me and bought antique napkins on ebay.  They’re all different-not matchy.  She had them monogrammed and then used them at the shower and then gave them to me as my shower gift.   I use the napkins all the time when we have guests over.  It’s a special touch that people notice.

Great conversation and lots of laughter make a successful evening in my book.

Board games—always a good idea.

I like that hospitality is so personal.  This was a “date” that we arranged for Paul’s grandparents when his grandfather got sick.  Although Grampa Jones wasn’t able to leave his house, we tried our best to make them feel like guests in their own home. 

Even my husband gets into it… 

Laura & Bees, A Guest Post

 
Laura just goes for it.  If she wants to learn something new, then she does it.  No holding back.  Hebrew, bee keeping, photography.  She's game.  I've really adored what she's done with bee keeping and wanted her to talk about why she loves and it and what made her want to try it:





Sitting out on my back deck one evening, cleaning up some old frames and putting in new foundation – a friend drops by, and I thrill at the opportunity to talk about my bees.  Again.

This interest in bees, it’s been some time in the making.  We, my kids and I, gave beekeeping a try a number of years ago, and while our bees survived only long enough to allow us one honey harvest, I’ve wished ever since to do it again, and do it better.

This last winter, I decided it was high time that I make my own wish come true.  After a little internet investigation, I found that our local beekeepers association would be offering a beekeeping class complete with all a novice beekeeper (that’s me) needs to get started and mentoring by a real beekeeper. Sign.Me.Up.

Things kicked into gear for our class in late March when our bees were delivered.  Packaged bees come in crates containing three pounds of bees (roughly 10,000-12,000 bees) and a queen in her own little cage.  Considering the 30 or so members of the class who were all receiving bees, it was by anyone’s estimation, a pretty exciting day.

These last few months, I’ve been to bee meetings, participated in group bee work at our hives, prepared and served gallons of sugar water to my girls, investigated all things “bee,” and grown increasingly fascinated by their complexity.  I’ve also, thanks to beekeeper friend, supplier, and advice-giver Mark, started a second hive! 

I can’t explain why I’m so enthralled with this new hobby.  Maybe it’s the satisfaction of experiencing Nature all close-up and everything. Maybe it’s the smells:  smoke, wood, honey, fresh air.  Maybe it’s the fascination that comes of being a student that will never master the subject and the connection to generations of others who’ve never mastered it either. Or it could be the bees themselves. I just know that I am enthralled.