Mixed Emotions

I watched two wonderful sessions of General Conference today. I was uplifted, inspired, touched and taught by the Spirit. I appreciate the ability to watch our Church leaders speak to us, right from the comfort of my own home.

As the last session ended, and the choir sang, "God Be With You til We Meet Again", I just lost it. I was reminded of the last General Conference, 6 months ago. I watched all 4 sessions at my sister's house, with my mom. The hymn hit home to me, and I felt a longing for my mom. None of us realized at the time that she would be taken from us before the end of the month. We knew she was declining, but we didn't think it would happen so quickly.

I am grateful for the gospel in my life. I'm grateful for the knowledge that I have that one day I will be reunited with my mom and all my family members who have passed on. I'm grateful for the blessings of temple ordinances that bind our family together. I am thankful for the healing power of the Spirit that brought our family together again before my mom's passing.

While I am grateful for this knowledge, I have a bit of a heavy heart... just because I miss her so much. I wish she was here to talk to, and give me advice. Or go shopping with. Or just here to appreciate the turning leaves with me.

Someone close to me once said that with the gospel in our lives, they didn't understand grief, and how we could be so sad when someone passes. Especially knowing what we know about our Heavenly Father's plan, and where we go when we die. While I can agree with part of that, I understand the sadness more now, too. It's not a sadness that I will never see her again... it's just missing her so much and feeling so sorry for myself for the "now" of my life without her. It's also weird going through a lot of firsts without her... my first child leaving home; my first son preparing to go on a mission. There are also other firsts - the first Mother's Day without here; the first summer without her; the first conference without her; the first holiday season without her. Those are hard to take, too.

I know that grieving is a natural process. I know it takes time. But I am thankful for the gospel. I can't imagine going through this without it.

Chicken Parm Sliders

I decided to try a new recipe today. One I came up with on my very own. Not that someone probably hasn't come up with this recipe before, and probably did it much better than I did, but I just kind of threw things together and made up my own recipe as I went along.

Josh LOVES chicken parmesan. L.O.V.E.S. it! He is always asking to have it for dinner, but it's not a favorite of his daddy, so we don't have it as often as Josh would like. Pretty much he gets it on his birthday and maybe one other time a year. I went grocery shopping yesterday, and I usually get ground turkey, but they were out. They did have ground chicken, though, so I grabbed some. I had sliders on my menu for this week, and thought that maybe I could make up some chicken parm sliders to make Josh happy.

I'm not a good one for measurements; I just kind of throw things in. I thought I'd share the recipe with you, but please don't judge me because I don't really have amounts down. I'm more of a "that looks good" kind of gal when it comes to cooking.

My recipe:
1 lb of ground chicken ( I know it was a pound because that was on the package!)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
thyme - pulled the leaves off several sprigs
parmesan cheese - dumped a bunch in
Italian breadcrumbs - again, just dumped a bunch in
one egg
splash of milk

I mixed all of this together, formed small patties and cooked them in a bit of olive oil in my non-stick pan. I realized that I forgot to add any salt or pepper, so I sprinkled some on top as they cooked.

After they were done, I put them on a wire cooling rack, which was placed in a baking sheet. I then put a small dollop (offical term!) of marinara sauce* on each, then topped that with shredded mozzarella and parm cheeses. I baked them in a 350-degree oven for maybe 8-10 minutes until the cheese was melted. Served them on slider buns (ok... they were cheapy brown and serve rolls, but they worked!), and they disappeared like magic! Josh loved them, and so did his daddy!

Think this is one recipe that I will make again!

*I actually made my own cheater marinara sauce. I used a can of Italian seasoned tomato sauce, and added in fresh basil and rosemary.

Little Monster Bash

Today we had a fun baby shower for a sweet friend and her twin boys! We are so excited for Emily and the addition to her family. These boys are going to be so loved!!

I left my camera in a back room, so I only got a few photos before we cleaned everything up, but wanted to share. It was so much fun getting things together for this event.

 

Cute monster sugar cookies

 

Yummy homemade cupcakes - mint chocolate chip and coconut

 

Fun picks for the cupcakes

 

The mantel - chalkboard with vinyl, candles, jars, flowers, banner, balloons, and a few eyeballs (there was one on the balloons, too)

 

The sister-in-law of the mom-to-be made these adorable fruit salad "babies" - they each had a binky in their mouth.

 

Only a few more weeks until the boys will be here. Poor Emily looks like she is about to pop, but she is so cute, and so excited to be a mom. Can't wait for them to get here!!

What a weekend!

My sister and 2 of her kiddos drove in to to the farm to visit on Thursday night. I had kept this a total surprise from my kids, and was so excited to see their faces when they saw their cousins again. It's been a while since they have seen each other - at least 3 years. My niece, Shauna, and my nephew, Jacob, came down to Madison to help me surprise the kids. It was so much fun! I wish I had brought my camera with me as we drove to both Kayti and Josh's work, but I totally forgot it! So lame, I know!

Jacon and Shauna

After Kayti and Josh got home from work, we packed up and headed to the farm. We stayed up late, talking and laughing. The kids had a great time reconnecting, and I enjoyed talking with my sisters, and listening to the kids talk and laugh.

On Saturday morning, we got up and headed to my sister's pool to swim. The kids decided to "rock the pool"...

Getting ready

Jumpin' in

"We're rocking now!"

My niece, Jessica, and her little boy, Reese, flew into Nashville on Saturday night. It's been 6 years since Jess has been to Tennessee, and the first time we met Reese. He is such a cutie, and Jess is so beautiful!

Reese

Jessica

We had a big family dinner on Sunday night, and enjoyed the cooler weather. We sat out on the front porch and visited and enjoyed being together.

Daddy and Kathy

Grace

Cousins... minus a few

Kayti and Josh had to come back on Sunday night because they had work on Monday, but Kyle, Megan and I stayed one more night. After things wound down, the kids played the best card game EVER... Hokie Six!

 The kids headed up to go swimming on Monday morning, but the weather turned stormy, and they had to head home. Not to be outdone by the rain, they put their bathing suits back on and headed out to play hide-n-go-seek in the rain!

Rainy day on the farm

Pre-game "dance"

After the game, they got real creative, and tried to "sled" down the wet hill. Not quite the same effect as if there had been snow on the ground, but they had fun trying!

Jess pushing Jake

Meg decided to stay warm and dry, and curled up on the front porch swing to finish up her summer reading.

My nephew, Chris, flew in tonight, and we are going up to visit him tomorrow. This is going to be a short trip for them (they head back to Idaho on Friday morning), but we are so glad they came!



Progress

I've been slowly working on a few projects around here. I've got the table painted and glazed... still need to seal it.

Barry is working on his car in the garage this weekend, so I moved the table inside to give him more room. I'm excited to finally have it in here for real! I still have to work on the chairs. I haven't been able to find any material for the chairs that I like, but I did find some online. Before I buy it, I think I'll run up to Sir's in Fayetteville to see what they have.

 I'm so tickled with it so far!!

Today...

I miss my mom today.

I miss her a lot, actually.

I miss her hugs.

I miss her advice.

I miss her laugh.

I miss her voice.

Not sure why it's hit me so hard today. I think I've been doing pretty well handling her passing. But not today.

My dad goes in for surgery on Tuesday, and I'm not sure if that is freaking me out a bit or what. I'm sure he will be ok, but I just hate that he has to do it.

It sure is hard when your parents get older.

Summer Projects

I have a few projects planned for this summer. Actually, I have a lot of projects planned for this summer, some of them bigger than others.

Last summer I didn't get anything done... recovering from surgery left me pretty much incapable of doing anything. By the time I felt better, it was time to go back to work, so a few of my projects are left-overs from last summer.

One of the bigger projects planned is this:

My dad built himself a new farmhouse table, and gave me their old set. I want to turn it into this:

I saw this on pinterest, and fell in love with it.  The lines on the table and chairs are almost identical to the set dad gave me, and I am so in love with the turquoise! Barry is not sold on it, but I think it will add so much color to the dining room. (Table originally pinned from this site: http://thesassypepper.blogspot.com/2011/09/from-sorta-scary-to-super-cute.html)

As you can see in the picture above, I've started sanding the table. It was kind of nicked to begin with, but I think that adds so much to it. I can't wait to find just the right fabric to cover the chairs with. That hunter green does NOTHING for me!

Two of the other projects on my summer list are actually in the background of the top picture...

I got this dresser from Dawn a few months ago. My plan is to turn it into a tv stand for my bedroom. I love the lines on this piece, and the keyholes in each drawer are so adorable!! My first thought was to paint it black so it would match the other pieces in our bedroom. The more I think about it, though, I really want to paint it grey. I think Barry might totally veto me on it, but I think it would lighten up the room. The lines on it don't match our "farmhouse" style nightstands and headboard, and he thinks painting it black with help it blend with the other pieces. I'm not sure I want it to blend though...I want it to stand out. But, I don't want it to look out of place, either. Not sure what to do. Any thoughts?

And speaking of the headboard... that is the other piece in the background of the first picture. My dad made the headboard, footboard and two nightstands for me 2 years ago, and I'm ashamed to say that the headboard is still not done. The nightstands are both done and in my room, the footboard is painted, but not distressed, and the headboard is only painted on one side. I left the whole project up to Josh to finish... actually I gave it to him to do so that he would have something other than video games and bugging his siblings to keep him busy. We ran out of paint, and it's just one of those things that didn't get done. Hopefully Josh will be working soon, so I'll take over the job.

I've also got other indoor project plans. I have lots of organizational projects I want to tackle... my craft room and a recipe binder, just to name a couple. I would love to maybe try my hand at some canning this summer, too. I've helped my mom can before, but I was more interested in getting out of the house and into a swimming pool to really learn much from her.

As much as I'm ticked at the fact that the Alabama legislature and Madison City Schools ruined my fall break with their stupid new calendar, I guess an extra two weeks of summer might help me get a few of these projects actually done this year. I'll keep you updated!