Highlights from my week in Birmingham:
!. Dad playing with Nora. She was staunchly refusing to go to bed on Monday night ~ I realize now that our great heavenly father knew that Pop Pop would have to go out of town and wouldn't get as much time with her as either of us had hoped for. He had to go to Louisiana on business on Wednesday morning.
2. Lindsay and Clara. My dear friend Lindsay made the trek down from Chatty with her sweet girl. Love her, and I love that my friends confide in me and feel that they are safe. I pray that I will always be a safe and comforting friend and that the Lord will give me the capacity to open my heart to new friends!
3. Afternoons with Charlotte. Mom picks up Charlotte from daycare in the afternoon, and by the end of the week, she was excited to see me too! She would actually crawl on over to me to play! Melts my heart, that one!
4. The Deucecast. I had so much fun being a special guest on my brother's podcast~ those guys are the best!
5. Meeting Campbell Dollar. My dear old friends David and Stephanie (they aren't old, I've just known them for 10+ years) welcomed baby Campbell into their lives back in December. Nora and I got to go and meet him ~ such a sweet little one with such sweet parents. The Dollars are good for my soul.
6. Melora and Evelyn. Another friend drove from Atlanta with her sweet girl! I love friends that you can just pick up with, as if you'd seen them and hung out with them yesterday. Can't wait for Nora and EV to play together again soon!
7. Missing my man. Matt and I have been married for close to 7 years now, and after a very long, yet fulfilling day today, it dawned on me how much I miss him! I was texting him a picture of Nora (which he DEMANDED by the way), and I started tearing up thinking about him! I love you so much Matt, you have no idea how proud I am of you.
8. Pottery Barn Kids. Sigh. I love that place. I do not love their prices :(
9. My momma.
10. My happy girl. Nora is growing up so fast and she is just such a precious girl! We ran all over the place today, and she just smiled and was so good wherever we went. I don't sit back and appreciate how blessed we are to have her often enough.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Yogurt!
Making yogurt is so simple! I started making yogurt about 2 years ago when Matt bought me a yogurt maker as a gift. I hadn't consistently made it in a while, and the aforementioned yogurt maker is in a box somewhere that hasn't yet been unpacked (and probably won't be, until we buy a house!) But, I've found a new method that ANYONE can do, and I think it's even easier than using the yogurt maker! It does take some patience and time...so be ready for that. I would start about 4 hours before you plan on going to bed.
Tools:
Crock Pot
Candy Thermometer
Bath Towel
Cheesecloth or Muslin towel (if making it Greek-we'll get to that!)
Large bowl
Ingredients:
Skim milk (or whatever you like)
plain yogurt (I used Fage Total 0)
Method:
Step 1: Pour 2 quarts of milk into your crock pot. Cover with lid and set on high. Set a kitchen timer for 2 hours.
Step 2: Check the temperature with your thermometer! You're looking for between 175 and 185. Too warm will ruin your consistency later.
Step 3: Turn off your crock pot. Set your kitchen time for 2 hours.
Step 4: Check the temperature. Needs to be around 120.
Step 5: Take 1/4 c. of your plain yogurt and put it in a pyrex. Add about a cup of milk from your crock pot and mix it together. Add the whole thing back to the crock pot and stir, stir, stir!
Step 6: Turn the light on in your oven. Take your crock pot and place it inside of your oven. Cover the top with the bath towel, folded over a few times, to keep it nice and toasty!
Step 7: Go to bed.
Step 8: After a lovely 8-10 hours of sleep (yeah right!), it's time to check on your yogurt! It will have an inch or so of clearish, yellowish liquid on the top. This is called whey, and it's not tasty. Very carefully drain the whey off into the sink. Your yogurt will slip out if your not careful! And now, you have 2 quarts of beautiful, homemade plain yogurt. Store it in the fridge in a Tupperware container. It will thicken slightly in the fridge.
Step 9: Remember to save 1/4 c. for your next batch of yogurt!
GOING GREEK
If you prefer a thicker, greek style yogurt, you can easily transform your beautiful plain yogurt with a couple of extra steps (and more time, of course). Be forewarned though, it will greatly decrease the volume of yogurt you end up with. This is why Greek yogurt is more expensive and has twice the protein.
Method:
Step 1: Line a large bowl with cheese cloth or a muslin cloth (I used one of Nora's old muslin swaddling blankets and are too small now!).
Step 2: Pour in your beautiful plain yogurt.
Step 3: Gather up the edges to make a little yogurt bag. It will need to be suspended several inches over your bowl so that the whey can drain out. There are a couple of ways to do this. One thing you could do, is tie it to your faucet over your kitchen sink. I tied it to the wire shelves inside my fridge over the bowl. The bottom line is: it has to drain out - so be creative - and it's best for it to hang out (ha!) in the fridge.
Step 4: Wait. Depending how thick you want your yogurt to be. I'd recommend at least 2 hours. Once I left it draining all night in the fridge, the finished product was magnificent, but there was only about 2 cups of it!
Step 5: Scrape your yogurt off the towel with a spatula a store it in the fridge!
NOTE: You can achieve some thickness by adding non-fat powdered milk to the milk in the crock pot during the initial heating process. You'll have to play with the amount though, I haven't done this in a while! It won't be as thick as it would be if you strain it.
So there you have it! Homemade Yogurt! You should try it at least once, and may the Schwartz be with you. (Little Spaceballs joke...did you get it?)
Tools:
Crock Pot
Candy Thermometer
Bath Towel
Cheesecloth or Muslin towel (if making it Greek-we'll get to that!)
Large bowl
Ingredients:
Skim milk (or whatever you like)
plain yogurt (I used Fage Total 0)
Method:
Step 1: Pour 2 quarts of milk into your crock pot. Cover with lid and set on high. Set a kitchen timer for 2 hours.
Step 2: Check the temperature with your thermometer! You're looking for between 175 and 185. Too warm will ruin your consistency later.
Step 3: Turn off your crock pot. Set your kitchen time for 2 hours.
Step 4: Check the temperature. Needs to be around 120.
Step 5: Take 1/4 c. of your plain yogurt and put it in a pyrex. Add about a cup of milk from your crock pot and mix it together. Add the whole thing back to the crock pot and stir, stir, stir!
Step 6: Turn the light on in your oven. Take your crock pot and place it inside of your oven. Cover the top with the bath towel, folded over a few times, to keep it nice and toasty!
Step 7: Go to bed.
Step 8: After a lovely 8-10 hours of sleep (yeah right!), it's time to check on your yogurt! It will have an inch or so of clearish, yellowish liquid on the top. This is called whey, and it's not tasty. Very carefully drain the whey off into the sink. Your yogurt will slip out if your not careful! And now, you have 2 quarts of beautiful, homemade plain yogurt. Store it in the fridge in a Tupperware container. It will thicken slightly in the fridge.
Step 9: Remember to save 1/4 c. for your next batch of yogurt!
GOING GREEK
If you prefer a thicker, greek style yogurt, you can easily transform your beautiful plain yogurt with a couple of extra steps (and more time, of course). Be forewarned though, it will greatly decrease the volume of yogurt you end up with. This is why Greek yogurt is more expensive and has twice the protein.
Method:
Step 1: Line a large bowl with cheese cloth or a muslin cloth (I used one of Nora's old muslin swaddling blankets and are too small now!).
Step 2: Pour in your beautiful plain yogurt.
Step 3: Gather up the edges to make a little yogurt bag. It will need to be suspended several inches over your bowl so that the whey can drain out. There are a couple of ways to do this. One thing you could do, is tie it to your faucet over your kitchen sink. I tied it to the wire shelves inside my fridge over the bowl. The bottom line is: it has to drain out - so be creative - and it's best for it to hang out (ha!) in the fridge.
Step 4: Wait. Depending how thick you want your yogurt to be. I'd recommend at least 2 hours. Once I left it draining all night in the fridge, the finished product was magnificent, but there was only about 2 cups of it!
Step 5: Scrape your yogurt off the towel with a spatula a store it in the fridge!
NOTE: You can achieve some thickness by adding non-fat powdered milk to the milk in the crock pot during the initial heating process. You'll have to play with the amount though, I haven't done this in a while! It won't be as thick as it would be if you strain it.
So there you have it! Homemade Yogurt! You should try it at least once, and may the Schwartz be with you. (Little Spaceballs joke...did you get it?)
Monday, January 30, 2012
The D Word
I am on a diet. Let me start from the beginning. On September 10, 2010, on our 5 year anniversary, I got pregnant with our sweet little girl. Yes, I know the exact date, isn't that crazy? We went to Atlanta to see the Avett Bros. It was magical. {You can decide for yourself if I'm talking about the concert or the conception ;)} At the time I weighed 138 lbs, a little heavy for me. My ideal weight is 125, which, ironically enough, I ended up weighing in at at my December OB appointment that year! Sweet baby girl made me very, very ill. I didn't start gaining weight until well into my second trimester. I ate a lot of brownies, and "rounded out" my pregnancy weighing about 175 lbs. I know. Yikes. I have proof of said weight gain all over my belly and waist line and bosom. Not a pretty sight, my friends! Once our little angel decided to make her arrival, I dropped 20 lbs immediately down to 155. Nursed, nursed, and nursed some more and settled in at 150. I was hoping that nursing would take care of all my baby weight, but it became apparent when the scale stopped moving that I would have to {dramatic pause} diet. I knew that I wasn't going to start the journey toward my ideal weight of 125 in November, I mean Thanksgiving, hello! Or December...Christmas cookies, hello! Besides that, I was still nursing Nora in the morning and before she went to bed, so, I really couldn't diet. It became obvious that Nora was needing more food than I could give her around mid-December, so I bit the bullet and weaned her. {More on nursing in another post!} With January looming, I knew that it was time.
I asked Matt for a Weight Watchers Online membership for Christmas and a new pair of sneakers for my birthday. I started on January 1. I've given myself 1 3 month period to lose 25 pounds. About 1 month into it, and it's going pretty well! The first week and half was the hardest, I was HUNGRY! My dear cousin Jenny has really encouraged me to stick with it and drink lots of water, which I wasn't doing. Now I'm down 7 pounds and started exercising last week to help that scale move FASTER! It's actually kind of fun now, I try to get as much nutrition and food as possible for the least amount of points. Here is a typical day for me:
Breakfast:
Homemade Yogurt {I'll be posting about this later!}
Low-Fat Granola
Snack:
Coffee with Fat-Free Creamer
Clementine Orange
Lunch:
Egg Salad on a English Muffin
Snack:
Glass of milk with 1 cup of frozen blueberries and a packet of splenda
Dinner:
Lower Fat Beef Chili (for example).
I picked up a new cookbook with some Christmas money at Target. Everyday Food LIGHT from the Kitchen's of Martha Stewart Living. It is fantastic. I don't feel deprived (at dinner) and the recipes are simple and delicious!
I asked Matt for a Weight Watchers Online membership for Christmas and a new pair of sneakers for my birthday. I started on January 1. I've given myself 1 3 month period to lose 25 pounds. About 1 month into it, and it's going pretty well! The first week and half was the hardest, I was HUNGRY! My dear cousin Jenny has really encouraged me to stick with it and drink lots of water, which I wasn't doing. Now I'm down 7 pounds and started exercising last week to help that scale move FASTER! It's actually kind of fun now, I try to get as much nutrition and food as possible for the least amount of points. Here is a typical day for me:
Breakfast:
Homemade Yogurt {I'll be posting about this later!}
Low-Fat Granola
Snack:
Coffee with Fat-Free Creamer
Clementine Orange
Lunch:
Egg Salad on a English Muffin
Snack:
Glass of milk with 1 cup of frozen blueberries and a packet of splenda
Dinner:
Lower Fat Beef Chili (for example).
I picked up a new cookbook with some Christmas money at Target. Everyday Food LIGHT from the Kitchen's of Martha Stewart Living. It is fantastic. I don't feel deprived (at dinner) and the recipes are simple and delicious!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Cloth Diapers
I'm often asked which brand of cloth diapers are my favorite. Not really. I totally lied about that. It's never happened. But, I want to write about it, and it's my blog, gosh darnit! I promise I'll follow up with something more interesting to those who are not interested in poop management. The truth is, I like different diapers for different things. I am so glad that I varied my stash when I was collecting diapers before Nora was born! Maybe I should start with why we chose to cloth diaper...and then get to the rest. Here were my reasons:
1. Save money. It can cost an average of around $2500 to diaper a child from birth to potty training. I spent right around $600 out of pocket, and I was so blessed to have a Cloth Diaper Shower. I registered on KellysCloset.com. It was so easy!
2. Cloth diapered babies do not get diaper rash (very often).
3. Cloth diapered babies potty train faster (I'll let you know).
4. I like to be different (Matt made sure I added this one, it's true though).
And that's pretty much it. All of the above was completely based on months of extensive research before Nora was born, not practical application. Here we are 8 months into it, and it's really no big deal. Once you get your laundry routine down, you're money! {I've never used that phrase in my life, it seemed appropriate though} Matt was adamantly opposed, and under most circumstances I totally yield to his entire "head of household" thing. But, I think he figured out that I wasn't going to give in on this one, and believe it or not, he is so thankful that we cloth diaper! I might even get him to write about it! Alright, so this is becoming a little lengthy, so I'll leave it at that for today, and I'll come back with my favorites another time! I'll also be discussing in detail: poop management, overnight options, laundry detergent, hemp inserts and other things. It's exciting stuff, folks!
1. Save money. It can cost an average of around $2500 to diaper a child from birth to potty training. I spent right around $600 out of pocket, and I was so blessed to have a Cloth Diaper Shower. I registered on KellysCloset.com. It was so easy!
2. Cloth diapered babies do not get diaper rash (very often).
3. Cloth diapered babies potty train faster (I'll let you know).
4. I like to be different (Matt made sure I added this one, it's true though).
And that's pretty much it. All of the above was completely based on months of extensive research before Nora was born, not practical application. Here we are 8 months into it, and it's really no big deal. Once you get your laundry routine down, you're money! {I've never used that phrase in my life, it seemed appropriate though} Matt was adamantly opposed, and under most circumstances I totally yield to his entire "head of household" thing. But, I think he figured out that I wasn't going to give in on this one, and believe it or not, he is so thankful that we cloth diaper! I might even get him to write about it! Alright, so this is becoming a little lengthy, so I'll leave it at that for today, and I'll come back with my favorites another time! I'll also be discussing in detail: poop management, overnight options, laundry detergent, hemp inserts and other things. It's exciting stuff, folks!
Here we go.
I've decided to join the thousands of mommies that are blogging. Do I have anything unique to contribute? I'm not so sure. Regardless, I'm doing this thing. I have a few topics that I'd like to share with you, my loyal blog readers (that don't yet exist). One thing that I want to be clear about is this: being a wife and a mommy is amazing, it's also really hard sometimes. Just because I'm writing about it, I by no means think that I am better at it than anyone else! All of us have different strengths and weaknesses, and I think that we'd all be better off if we were a little less hard on each other, a little less judgmental, and a little more encouraging. So I hope that you are encouraged, not left feeling inadequate, as I often am after reading some of the blogs I frequent. Totally not their fault, definitely my own insecurities rearing their ugly heads! So what I'm trying to say is...thanks for stopping by, and I hope you enjoy the show!
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Trust His Heart
God is too wise to be mistaken
God is too Good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His Heart.
Have you ever just not know what to say? Most of you know what has happened in my life the past several months, and some of you have even asked me why haven't I blogged about it. I just haven't known what to say, because talking about it is hard. It's easier just to swollow the lump in my throat, blink back the tears and brush past it quickly. And now it's all hitting me hard.
On May 17th, 2009 Nana went to be with Jesus
On June 9th, 2009 My dear, dear Aunt Betty went to be with Jesus
and on August 22nd, 2009 My Grandpa went to be with Jesus
It's been hard for me to address Nana's death, because I honestly did not have the greatest relationship with her. I loved her, I know she loved me...but we weren't close. If I were honest, which I really am trying to be, most of the time I did not look forward to seeing her. I knew that she would lay some guilt trip on me for not spending more time with her. But she was still my Nana, and I am so thankful that God was ready for her for many reasons.
Aunt Betty was always there. Always. Easy to talk to, she told us the facts about our family that no one else would! She called me Darlin' or Stephy, and probably still would be calling me that! She was so strong, so wise...
5 days ago Grandpa died. He had alzheimers. The thing that makes it so difficult for me is that I will never see him again, at least not on earth. He was cremated. I have always thought that I wanted to be cremated, it's cheaper, right? And I didn't want people laying all over my dead body, weeping. Pam told me once that it helps people in the grieving process if they can say "good-bye" to the body. I never thought there was anything to that, until now. I hated Nana's funeral. They closed the casket, and then they re-opened it! No, not okay, not for me!
I'm sad that I kept telling myself that Matt would have time to meet Grandpa...that we'd take a trip to Texas on one of our vacations and spend a week there. I only have 10 days of vacation, and they tend to get reserved pretty quickly (pardon the complaint). I just thought there was time, and there wasn't.
So here are the essentials to our annual summer trip to Grandpa's farm in Texas:
Grandpa singing "Cinder-fella and His Sad Ugly Blisters" (he had to have made this up, I can't find lyrics anywhere) and playing his guitar. The best is when Dad and Uncle Tom would play along with their guitars.
Cards and/or dominoes
Blue Bell Icecream that Grandpa wasn't supposed to eat
Homemade tamales
Collecting eggs from the chickens
Attempting to catch any of the 100's of kittens that took up residence in Grandpa's shed.
Fishing with Grandpa in his pond
Old pictures of our family
I know this post has been disjointed and a little rambling, but it's helped me. I hope that I didn't depress ya'll!
"You have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?"
Psalm 56:7-9
God is too Good to be unkind
So when you don't understand
When you don't see His plan
When you can't trace His hand
Trust His Heart.
Have you ever just not know what to say? Most of you know what has happened in my life the past several months, and some of you have even asked me why haven't I blogged about it. I just haven't known what to say, because talking about it is hard. It's easier just to swollow the lump in my throat, blink back the tears and brush past it quickly. And now it's all hitting me hard.
On May 17th, 2009 Nana went to be with Jesus
On June 9th, 2009 My dear, dear Aunt Betty went to be with Jesus
and on August 22nd, 2009 My Grandpa went to be with Jesus
It's been hard for me to address Nana's death, because I honestly did not have the greatest relationship with her. I loved her, I know she loved me...but we weren't close. If I were honest, which I really am trying to be, most of the time I did not look forward to seeing her. I knew that she would lay some guilt trip on me for not spending more time with her. But she was still my Nana, and I am so thankful that God was ready for her for many reasons.
Aunt Betty was always there. Always. Easy to talk to, she told us the facts about our family that no one else would! She called me Darlin' or Stephy, and probably still would be calling me that! She was so strong, so wise...
5 days ago Grandpa died. He had alzheimers. The thing that makes it so difficult for me is that I will never see him again, at least not on earth. He was cremated. I have always thought that I wanted to be cremated, it's cheaper, right? And I didn't want people laying all over my dead body, weeping. Pam told me once that it helps people in the grieving process if they can say "good-bye" to the body. I never thought there was anything to that, until now. I hated Nana's funeral. They closed the casket, and then they re-opened it! No, not okay, not for me!
I'm sad that I kept telling myself that Matt would have time to meet Grandpa...that we'd take a trip to Texas on one of our vacations and spend a week there. I only have 10 days of vacation, and they tend to get reserved pretty quickly (pardon the complaint). I just thought there was time, and there wasn't.
So here are the essentials to our annual summer trip to Grandpa's farm in Texas:
Grandpa singing "Cinder-fella and His Sad Ugly Blisters" (he had to have made this up, I can't find lyrics anywhere) and playing his guitar. The best is when Dad and Uncle Tom would play along with their guitars.
Cards and/or dominoes
Blue Bell Icecream that Grandpa wasn't supposed to eat
Homemade tamales
Collecting eggs from the chickens
Attempting to catch any of the 100's of kittens that took up residence in Grandpa's shed.
Fishing with Grandpa in his pond
Old pictures of our family
I know this post has been disjointed and a little rambling, but it's helped me. I hope that I didn't depress ya'll!
"You have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?"
Psalm 56:7-9
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