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Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

food

Saturday smiles: Coming up for air edition

July 21, 2012

This week has been a blur. I’m in the thick of a writing deadline and with my husband still in the hunt for a full-time job, I’m bringing home the bacon. (Mmm … bacon.) At least that’s the case this month. So I’ve spent more time out of the house writing (and drinking copious amounts of coffee) this week than I have in the last couple of months. Blogging hasn’t been high on my list of priorities, but I don’t want to lose the rhythm I had going, so I’ll try to keep up. If not, I promise I’ll be back. Don’t go away! (Okay, that sounds a little desperate.)

Even with deadlines breathing down my neck, writing makes me smile. More than that, it feeds my soul. And I come home mentally tired but spiritually refreshed and better able to hang with the kiddos.

Speaking of hanging with the kiddos, Phil has made the writing possible by staying home with them four mornings this week so I could write. It’s not easy (I know!) and I love him more for it.

Last week we started potty training Corban and this week, he’s catching on like it’s his job. I don’t want to get my hopes up that he’s going to be easier than Isabelle was, but we have drastically decreased our diaper use in a week. Even Isabelle has stopped wearing any overnight diapers this week. All I can say is “Thank You, Jesus.” Our finances are tighter than they’ve ever been and spending less money on diapers is a major deal.

Because money is tight, we’re trying to better consume the food in our house before we have to go to the store to buy more. That means kitchen adventures are plentiful. And mostly successful. Yesterday we made scones to eat for breakfast this morning. Yummy. And I repurposed some leftover shredded beef from tacos into a beef pot pie. Also delicious. Next up: I’m going to make some cornmeal crackers for snacking on. Crackers from scratch … who knew? I certainly didn’t. I’ll let you know how that one turns out.

I’m lovin’ our kids’ imaginations. At least once this week, they introduced themselves as “bread” and “Fred.” Those were their names. And they stuck to that story. Now Isabelle, who is fond of rhyming these days, is making up her own exclamations. Today I heard her say, “Jiggers and jaggers!” when she was attempting something difficult and as we approached a set of bleachers in the park across the street she said, “Bleed my beachers.” Not exactly “Kiss my grits,” but it’s close. I hope this doesn’t turn into preschool swearing. I’m not ready to deal with that yet.

She comes by ridiculousness honestly. In conversation with my husband today I said these words: “Well, the Titanic just sank …” I was referring to the plot of a book I’m reading. It’s not everyday you can slip “Titanic” into conversation. And speaking of the early 20th Century, we finished watching the first season of Downton Abbey last night, and I’m thrilled that our library system has Season 2, even if we have to wait for it. We can’t get it instantly on Netflix right now, so waiting our turn is our best option. Maybe by the time Season 3 premieres, we’ll be caught up.

We still don’t know what tomorrow (or the next day or the next day) will bring but we are praising God and trusting Him because He is good.

Whatever your situation today, rejoice in that.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever.

Filed Under: Children & motherhood, Saturday smiles, Writing Tagged With: budget-stretching meals, cooking, deadlines, Downton Abbey, food, made-up words, potty training, Titanic, writing

Saturday Smiles: Weird and wonderful edition

July 1, 2012

Two words: Bacon milkshake.

If you could put heaven in a cup, it would taste like the vanilla bean apple pie bacon milkshake at The B Spot, Michael Symon’s burger joint in Strongsville, Ohio. Besides eating the best burger of my life, the Blue Cow, and some tasty sauces (coffee barbecue sauce? Genius!), I had the pleasure of sharing the bacon milkshake with my husband. If I had $6 left to my name, I would buy one of these milkshakes. That’s a whole lot of happiness in a glass.

Our trip to The B Spot was a treat after we transferred the kids to my parents’ car in Toledo, Ohio. We’re on what feels like an extended date for a week as the kids visit their grandparents in Illinois and we prepare our house for a potential move. (Read: clean the kids’ room and hide away toys they aren’t going to miss.) It is, as the title of this post suggests, weird and wonderful. We are freer with our time and schedule, yet we feel like something is missing or that we’re being negligent in our parenting duties. We video chatted with the kids this afternoon and got a taste of what it’s like on our side of the screen most Sundays.

Isabelle’s first question: “How clean is our room?” Slow down, Sally. We got home at midnight and spent most of today away from home.

Corban’s concern: “Are you playing with my toys?” Tempting, but no.

On the plus side, I took a nap this afternoon with no concern that a child would wake me up after 5 minutes. We ate supper later than usual. We’ve got a full slate of activities planned for the week, which will go fast.

We had a wonderful visit to Lancaster today, and we’re pretty sure we’re going to move in that direction for church, job and house. We’re still waiting on God to help us put the pieces together, but there was an excitement we felt today that’s been missing for a while. Again, it’s weird and wonderful.

Then again, so are we.

Have a great week!

Filed Under: Saturday smiles Tagged With: bacon milkshake, burgers, food, job search, kidless for a week, michael symon, moving

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Hi. I’m Lisa, and I’m glad you’re here. If we were meeting in real life, I’d offer you something to eat or drink while we sat on the porch letting the conversation wander as it does. That’s a little bit what this space is like. We talk about books and family and travel and food and running, whatever I might encounter in world. I’m looking for the beauty in the midst of it all, even the tough stuff. (You’ll find a lot of that here, too.) Thanks for stopping by. Stay as long as you like.

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