- summer photo dump -

I'm having a bit of writer's block today. I have literally been staring at a blank screen for over half an hour now with no clever post ideas. So, this is just going to be a photo dump of some of my favorite images of summer so far. Have I mentioned how much I love this time of year? I love the sun, I love that it stays light out until 8:00 p.m., I love how much fun Ellie has been having...

Summer lovebirds!

 There's nothing better than popsicle stained lips on a toddler! I love it!

...yup, I love summer and everything that goes with it!

Speaking of summer, we better get going on our summer bucket list! It's going to be August in just a couple of days and we have so much more to cross off of our list! Hopefully we can tackle a few of them this weekend. Maybe we'll go to the local's farmer's market, or better yet, make our own popscicles! Whatever we decide to do, I'm sure it will be a fun adventure and another great summer memory!

Have a wonderful weekend! "Bye bye" from the cool girl wearing her shades...

- 20 things you should know about me -

1.  I am a total perfectionist
2.  I absolutely refuse to iron anything in my closet
3.  My mind never stops spinning and thinking...and it drives me crazy, especially when I am trying to fall asleep at night!

4.  I can absolutely eat an entire pint of Ben and Jerry's Cinnamon Buns ice cream in one sitting (and I always feel sick afterwards!)

(Image credit www.onsecondscoop.com)

5.  I love shopping (especially online)...for anything or anyone

6.  I have one tattoo (of Ellie's initials), and I'm totally wanting to get another one ASAP

7.  I am obsessed with perusing photographer's blogs and websites. I could spend all day looking at all of the beautiful pictures!
8.  I change my mind...a lot...
9.  My favorite food is Italian food...I could eat it every day...(yes, every day!)

(Image credit dreamydish.com)

10.  I used to be super shy...(like deathly shy) when I was younger
11.  I wish I was craftier...I try to be, but most of the time the visions I have in my head are much cuter than my final creation
12.  My favorite adage..."leap and the net will appear"

(Image credit www.kindovermatter.com)

 13.  I love dogs, but I love cats even more
14.  I absolutely hate clutter in my house, in my car, in my office....anywhere
15. I adore planning parties, especially children's parties! I wish I could do it for a living...but then I would have to be craftier...sigh
16.  I am NOT a homebody...I love being out & about
17. I love watching scary movies
18.  I'm a huge, huge planner
19.  I'm addicted to Etsy

(Image credit shugirl08)

20.  I am happiest when I am with my family and friends!

- quick recipe of the week -

Have I mentioned how much I love summer? Hands down my favorite season! We had such a great weekend enjoying the sun, some good friends, and our little family! Perfect way to spend the weekend! We were also a little productive this weekend believe it or not! Matt and I have been working on a few projects for Ellie's room. I can't wait to share them with you when we are finished!

But for now, let's meet Nicki from The Home Guru, (another awesome cooking and recipe blog). Nicki has A LOT of Mama Drama with 4 little girls who quite literally might eat her out of house and home. She's married to a wonderful and kind man. She's a writer, a homemaker, a garderner, and a dreamer.

This recipe is just our style on a busy weeknight, anytime of the year. In the summer eat it cold. In the winter, heat it up. But no matter what, it'll only take you 15 minutes to make, it's low fat, whole grain, and high on flavor. This is the perfect recipe for Nicki's family, our family, and hopefully yours too!

15 Minute Chicken and Broccoli Couscous with Lemon
2 1/2 cups water
2 Tbs olive oil
5 cups frozen broccoli florets
2 Packages of Near East Roasted Garlic & Olive Oil Couscous Mix (can usually be found near the box rice mixes or in the International Foods section)
2 cups chicken, cooked and chopped into bite size pieces
6 Tbs of Lemon Juice

In a medium sized pot with a lid, bring water, oil, broccoli and seasoning packets to boil. Once boiling, add lemon juice, chicken, and couscous, in that order. Stir until incorporated. Remove pot from heat, cover, and let sit 5 minutes. Fluff with fork and serve.

This tastes great, hot, room temperature, or cold from the fridge.  Enjoy!

(Image credit Nicki Woo)

(Image credit Nicki Woo)

Printable Recipe

Thank you again Nicki. I will definitely be making this one sometime this week!

- happy friday -

We have a busy weekend planned! Saturday we are spending the day with some friends. We will be out all day with a limo, some champagne, and some wine. Let's just say it's a much needed break for both Matt and I! Lisa and my mom so graciously agreed to a little "tag team" babysitting...with Lisa taking the first shift, and my mom taking the second shift, so that we could be gone all day without Ellie (thank you to both of you!).

Sunday we have a wedding to go to for one of my employees from work. Ellie's first wedding! Hopefully she can sit still through the ceremony at least!

I hope everyone has a fun filled weekend! And I leave you with this cute picture to bring a smile to your face on this Friday afternoon!

- on the other side of the world there is tragedy -

I'm not naive...I know we are so blessed to live in this country, and I know what the conditions are like in other parts of the world. I know that there are orphan children hurting and needing all over the world and I know I can't save every orphan out there. But for some reason, this story I read today really hit me hard. It's so easy to live our sheltered lives, and ignore things that are happening in other countries (or even our own country for that matter). It's also just as easy to be so overwhelmed by all of the heartbreaking stories out there, and not to ever know who you should help. It's easy to just turn away, and pretend tragedies are not happening every day, all over the world. I know it's impossible to help everyone...to help every orphan or every needy child out there. I often use that as my excuse to not take any action at all. But it's really not a valid excuse at all. Even a little bit makes a difference. I donated just a little bit today (which was all I could do at the moment), but even a little bit might make a difference. This story broke my heart.

Meet Teri Lynn. She is an orphan with down syndrome from Eastern Europe. Such a sweet and innocent face.

(Image credit reecesrainbow.org)

Have you heard of what is happening in Eastern Europe with their orphans that have special needs? If not, please watch this video. I'm warning you, it's hard to watch. But without watching it, you won't understand how tragic Teri Lynn's story is. There is no place in society for children with disabilities in Eastern Europe. Basically, Teri Lynn, and hundreds of other mentally and/or physically challenged children are being sent to adult mental institutions by age 5 or 6 if they are not adopted. Some of these children a strapped to their beds or cribs for days and days. Most are kept in cribs all the way to adulthood. Their growth is stunted and their muscles atrophy and waste away. Many of them don't even survive their first year in the institution. But as you can see from the video, it can get even worse if they do survive. It's a life sentence of inhumane abuse and neglect.  Teri Lynn was just transferred into one of those mental institutions recently. Here is the most recent picture of her.

(Image credit reecesrainbow.org)

That picture just breaks my heart! Her head shaved, her face obviously has been hurt, her eyes look possibly heavy and drugged (which is common practice in these institutions). These pictures were taken within one week of each other...one week! Please look at that heartbreaking change!

Having a healthy, happy toddler makes it even harder to hear stories like these. We are SO blessed, and I need to remind myself of that every day. Look at what children in other parts of the world have to endure. A bad day in our life would be an amazing day in their life. I don't ever want to take for granted anything that I have in this life.

There is a well established and trusty-worthy non profit organization that is collecting donations to get Teri Lynn adopted, before she falls into the dark depths of the institution she has just been transferred to.  She's on someone's radar, and they are doing everything they can to rescue her and get her adopted. Adoptions in Eastern Europe are extremely expensive. That means a lot of these children don't get rescued. This organization needs to raise a lot of money for Teri Lynn. Please visit Reece's Rainbow if you are able to donate even a little bit to help rescue this sweet little girl. And also, please consider re-posting this story to your blog. Or share this story on Facebook or Twitter. Or even just let your family and friends know by word of mouth or email that an innocent little girl needs their help.

I know I can't save everyone in this world. But every little bit helps.

And please, don't ever take for granted what you have in your amazing blessed life. I know I won't. Not after hearing this tragic story of this hurting little girl, and watching that heartbreaking video, and then looking into the eyes of my happy, healthy, smiling daughter whose has all of her needs met every day. I AM SO BLESSED!

- things I am loving around our house right now -

Here is a little peek inside our lovely abode...and a few things I am loving around our house these days...

Doorknobs?? Really? Yes, really! You see, we live in a small, but quaint 1940's craftsman house. Some things have been redone, some have not. I love that there are still some touches from the 1940's around our house. I love the character that it brings to our place.  It does mean that some things around our house are not in the best shape (note the peeling paint around the doorknob in the picture), but I absolutely love that we don't live in a cookie cutter house. I love these glass doorknobs! No, they don't lock, and they are kind of rattly, but they are are so charming. When we eventually move into a bigger house, I can only hope that we can find a house that has as much as character as this one does! I've never wanted to live in the new homes in the suburbs. While those houses are really nice houses,  I absolutely love a house with some older character!

Because we live in a cute, but a somewhat unconventional, 1940's house, we don't have a lot of big, empty walls like a lot of the newer homes have. No long hallway to hang all our family pictures (and God knows we have so many pictures we could hang!) No large family room to hang super big canvases from Ellie's many photo shoots. So, in our bedroom, I created a little shrine for our family photos. Yes, the frames are tiny (5x7 is the biggest that can fit on the shelf), but it makes me so happy to wake up to this wall every morning. I get so excited when I have new pictures to display!

Ellie is still a little too young to make her own drawings and crafts for me. But with some "help", I do have some drawings to hang on the fridge, and some crafts to display. The "help" comes from my mom, or from Matt..whoever is around to help her write "For Mommy"...They melt my heart, and I can not wait until our entire fridge is covered with her art!

A Mother's Day gift from my adorable hubby this year...The message is straight from him, the design is Lisa Leonard. I'm mildly obsessed with all of her stuff right now and I already have a place in my house for at least 2 more of her designs...now I just have to buy them!

- quick recipe of the week -

Exciting news! I've added a new feature to my quick recipes of the week! A lot of people have been asking for an easy way to print the recipes, so I have added a link to a printable copy of each recipe. Enjoy!

This week's recipe was contributed by Heather from basilmomma. She has an impressive cooking blog and always has great recipes posted! Cooking for herself and her family is more than just a necessity. Heather truly enjoys it! Her food isn't fancy, but it's real. Her recipes aren't from "Le Cordon Bleu" but they were tested in her kitchen and they work! Her panel of judges agree (3 boys!)

This recipe may look odd, but just try it! You will be pleasantly surprised. It could be served as a dessert, or even a salad before dinner. It is both sweet and savory and it is definitely a palate cleanser.

Watermelon Jello with Fresh Fruit, Mint, and Feta Cheese 
2 packages of unflavored gelatin
2 cups of watermelon juice (puree watermelon and run it through a strainer...the "water" will be leftover)
1 1/2 cup white grape juice
1 tsp lemon zest
2 cups chopped fresh fruit (suggestions- peaches, green grapes)
crumbled feta cheese
mint for garnish

In a saucepan sprinkle gelatin over the watermelon water. Let sit for 5 minutes. Add the zest and juice and cook on a low heat until gelatin is dissolved.

Add half of this mixture to a pretty, 2 quart dish (as you do not un-mold this jello) and sprinkle the fruit over the top. Cover with plastic and refrigerate for 1 1/2 hours. Allow remaining watermelon liquid to sit at room temp.

After the first layer has set carefully spoon the remaining mixture over the top and return to the refrigerator. Allow to sit in there for a few more hours or until set.

When ready to serve cut into squares and garnish with the feta and mint.

(Image credit Heather T.)

Printable Recipe

Perfect for a summer picnic! Thanks Heather!