Blanking...

I was on quite a roll with the posts and then that roll stopped. I'm still not totally motivated to write about anything, but I figure this blog is just as much for memory logging as it is for anything else, so I better keep up with it.

My throat is soooo sore today. Last time it felt like this I ended up with strep - and strep has been going around. Hopefully it's just... something that isn't strep.

I can't even remember what's happened in the past week. I feel like I've lost a lot of things lately - including my memory it seems. The necklace, then my glasses, then the pen that goes with my tablet... I left my wallet in the cart at Heinen's today and drove all the way to work on the weekend before realizing I'd forgotten my laptop and had to go all the way back to get it. Thankfully I've found all these lost things. When I lose something I always try to picture it lost somewhere.... laying there, lost. Never to be found again.

Mmm, yeah still trying to think what happened last week and I'm blanking. Better post next time, I promise. This week is gonna be ker-azy busy, so I'm sure I'll have lots to tell. Tim's mom is planning a surprise for Saturday since Tim's sister is in town and I can't wait to find out what it is!! Wooooooo!

Road Kielbasa.

Yesterday I spent some time with one of my favorite people ever {Emily}. I will cry, cry, cry eight days from now when she leaves for a whole new adventure in Redding, California. But in the meantime I plan to make the most of the time we have left. This included yesterday which entailed some baked bean eating, some Target shopping and a some chit chatting. At the end of my visit, I was invited to eat some kielbasa her dad had made for dinner. It did look delicious so I decided to eat half and bring the other half home in a baggie for Tim. Boy was it good. I think Tim would have enjoyed it to, had I not set it on top of the car as I was getting Jack buckled in and forgotten about it. So if you saw a chunk of kielbasa in a plastic baggie on the road - that was mine. Maybe you even stopped to pick it up. Maybe you even ate it. If you did, I hope it was still good.

Which reminds me - I'm not really sure how my Peach Cobbler tasted because I never ended up trying it. I donated it to my sister's dinner table and saved a smidge for Tim who poured cream on it and ate it all before I could ask for a bite. I think "it was good" was the general consensus from those who indulged. I'm pretty pleased with my efforts considering they were a first attempt, not to mention the issue of the shriveled peaches.

No. 18 - Tea

Lost & Found.

On our wedding day, Tim gave me a necklace made from a bronzed 18th century wax stamp. The stamp is of a rose bush with the words Thy Sweetness Is My Life inscribed around it. He drove a good hour outside of town to get it and a few months after getting married he got the inscription tattooed on his arm. Let's just say the necklace was pretty...irreplaceable. So losing it would not be recommended. Well for almost exactly a month - it was lost. I won't go into a detailed account of all the places I looked for it - multiple times - but it felt like I'd searched everywhere and had almost given up hope. Yesterday I finally uncovered it (in our bedroom, as my hunch had hinted at all along) and the relief and joy was magnificent! Thanks to all who were praying for me to find it - and thanks most of all to God, the Father for restoring something so precious to me.

Today is another sleepy day. Though I've had in mind to use up the peaches in the fridge and make a Peach Cobbler of some sort. Can you make a Cobbler with month old peaches? Well, we'll find out 50 minutes from now according to the recipe. Thank you Andrea for the butter, rolled oats and one egg you contributed to this dessert - Tim & Jack are on their way to collect said ingredients as I type this. Alright, gotta go slice some shriveled peaches. Will share results in next post!

No. 15 - Thread

The Story of Us.

I changed the title of this blog from T&L@home to The Story of Us simply because on some pages the link name looks like "TampLampamphome" which is odd and confusing and just... wrong. In any case, there's a "J" added to the equation now!

Today is a busy day filled with birthday parties, family visits and a Browns game. Tim took Jack to his little brother's baseball game for a little bit which means I'm home alone, basking in the glory of being able to get some things done without interruption. Of course, its so much easier to just sit here, relax and relish in the peacefulness instead of being productive.

Songs for a lazy Saturday Afternoon:

By Your Side - Sade

Throw Me a Rope - KT Tunstall

Falling Slowly - Once Soundtrack

(Yesterday's picture was a cinch compared to the day before! I didn't even have to go in search of it... I was in a hurry to get it done before dinner, and this butterfly gave me a break when he (or she) flew by.)

No. 14 - Monarch

Noodle Bowl Goodness.

I'm totally in love with Trader Joe's 99 cent Rice Noodle Soup Bowls. Ah-mazing. With all-natural, no artificial ingredients (and I mean a short list of real, authentic, simple ingredients) these are so great for lunches! They only take 3 minutes to heat up and are surprisingly delicious. My favorite flavor is Garlic, but today I had a Mushroom one. I think my excitement stems from the fact that this is a packaged food which would typically be filled with evil preservatives and additives. But not these! Finally something I don't have to prepare that I can also feel good about eating :) Did I mention that there's only 2 grams of fat, 2 grams of sugar and 25 grams of carbs per bowl? That's incredible! No this is not a sponsored ad - I'm just that excited about my lunch. So if you live near a Trader Joe's, I suggest you go there with a dollar in your pocket and a hankering for a rice noodle bowl.

You know what else I love? That my baby is starting to return to his happy, mostly content self after fighting a gassy battle the past month or so and leaving behind him a trail of tears and the faint sound of unhappy cries. The only noise he's making now is a rhythmic snore as he sleeps soundly in his car seat. So praise God for that.

I almost gave up on the Project yesterday. We got home late which meant a very late start on photographing something, and the concept for No. 13 was difficult to perfect and beyond a labor of love to complete. I had to make the final adjustments on it late into this afternoon. I think it turned out alright in the end though and, in an odd way, reminds me of an ice cream sundae with a cherry on top.

No 13. - Glass

Myers/Kerney Night

It's become a tradition - or was a tradition - for us to spend our Thursday evenings after band practice with our very near and dear friends, the Kerneys. Back in our hay day-sans child we would visit into the late late hours playing euchre (much to my chagrin at first) and eating delicious food that Rebekah had graciously cooked for us as we laughed and chatted it up. This would all happen amidst my ongoing feud with their disagreeable cat Miles - whom Rebekah still insists is a nice cat. This would mostly play itself out with a sarcastic remark thrown his way or a stink eye glare - all of which he took no notice of, much to my annoyance. And so each Thursday night would go until about two months ago when a certain someone entered the world and life for the Kerneys became rather busy as well.

Tonight, however, officially marks the rebirth of Myers/Kerney night. May it live on for many years to come - bad-tempered cat and all.

No. 12 - Specs

Metroparks.

When I crave beauty in the covering of a canopy of leaves, I come here.

No. 11 - Bridge