4 Years

My wedding was really spectacular. That's dancing, by the way.

The week leading up to the blessed event was filled with big family dinners, late nights with out of town relatives, and celebrating. The whole thing really taught me a lot about the importance of supporting other people during their big life events.

Every single person that came and helped me prepare for the biggest decision of my life made an everlasting impact on me.

I still think about the well wishes, kind words, and tidbits of wisdom we received from people that love us and believe in our marriage. Some were a bit more excited than others. 

Weddings are a big deal. I had no idea how much of a big deal they are to everyone that loves the bride and groom until I experienced the excitement and love during our big day. What a wonderful thing!

I've been thinking about these things lately. Our anniversary was yesterday and the thing I remember the most about our wedding was the way our friends and family loved us. Maybe it's because we are so far away from that support group that it stands out in my mind, but 4 years later, it still means a lot to me.

Love you guys, thanks for making our day special. Oh, you too honey.

I Was Too Busy Cleaning Up All Of the Stuff I Broke This Weekend To Go Adventuring

I really like my everyday dishes and glasses. I have French porcelain dishes and heavy, handcrafted glassware. They are in the top 3 of my most prized kitchen possessions. First place goes to my All-Clad pots and pans. I like them a lot and take very good care of them.

That is until the other day. I was washing the dishes from the night before and one of my beautiful glasses slipped out of my hand and onto the tile floor.

I don't swear, but a 4-letter word flew out of my mouth like a knee-jerk reaction. I was pretty upset and I didn't know what to do. That handcrafted glass shattered into a million tiny pieces. I was barefoot, so I leapt to safety and found the vacuum. All the while, trying not to be upset. It was just a glass. Worse things could happen, blah blah blah.

Just when I started to not care as much about my beloved highball, this happened.

I didn't cuss, but I did stomp around and feel sorry for myself. Oh, and I blamed JD. He was supposed to do the dishes the night before, but left them in the sink for me. This is all your fault, honey! 

I'm pretty bummed. The thought of only having 11 place settings in a 12 piece set really aggravates me. Plus this stuff isn't very cheap ($30 a plate) to replace. Ugh, why must my floors be so hard and my precious tableware so delicate? And why can't JD do the dishes???

Bubbles

My Favorite Animals

This is a furry chicken.

It is my favorite animal. I actually didn't know this beautiful chicken existed until 3 years ago. My sister in law, Jamie, and I were at a summer festival and walked by a petting zoo with a dozen or so of the fancy birds pecking around. I had to do a double take because I had never seen a chicken covered in fur before. I was pregnant with Beatrice at the time and already showed major signs of pregnancy brain, so my lovely friends took it upon themselves to make me feel ridiculous for thinking such a species existed.

I knew what I saw and it wasn't a pheasant or partridge like they tried to convince me. I went home and googled "furry chicken" and lo and behold, they are real. You better believe I texted those naysaying scoffers immediately.

Aren't they spectacular? They are actually called silkies and are just as soft as they look. Google says they make excellent pets. JD says not on my life.

This is an alpaca, my second favorite animal.

They are prized for their soft fleece. They also make excellent pets (and can be a great source of income). But mostly, they are proof that God has a sense of humor. Check out that awesome hairdo!

Furry chickens and alpacas for President!!

What can I say? I love a funny-looking furry animal.

Weekend Adventure: Easter Extravaganza

We had a glorious weekend hunting eggs, petting chicks, and celebrating Jesus. I am exhausted.

We started the weekend off at the neighborhood egg hunt. Beatrice had a blast collecting eggs, but once she realized there was candy as far as the eye could see, she started eating the treats instead.

After the egg hunt, we went to the petting zoo. Beatrice kept introducing herself to the animals. "Hi, what's your name? Goat? I'm Beatrice. I love you." Presh. It was actually a sheep. She could have been named Goat though. 

The girls were flipping out over the giant hop hop, so we said hello.

We checked out the other fun things happening before we went home for a nap.

Sunday was a whole new day of Easter fun. We went to church, opened gifts from Grammy and Pops, and ate ham until our pants didn't fit.

It was an exhausting, glorious, emotional weekend for our crew.

Did you adventure hard this weekend too? Link up in the comments if so!

My bladder is not what it used to be...

<a href="http://alysbloggityblog.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Aly's Bloggity Blog" src="http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h13/alykolka/2eaq6g1.jpg" /></a>

Love

He is love and worthy of our praise. Do you know Him?

Strawberry Blackberry Pie

The produce is so fresh here in SoCal. Eating fresh food is really easy when there is a farmers market in every town nearly every day of the week. I bought a ton of berries last weekend and noticed that there was no way we could eat them all before they went bad. So I made a pie. From scratch.

I like to bake, but pies are tricky. They can be too runny or too jiggly in the middle. They can crack and dry out. They are delicate. And there's the whole crust issue. Pastry dough is finicky and intimidating and I don't like working with it. Everyone else makes it look easy to make your own pie crust, but for me it's not. Making a pie from scratch was sort of a big deal.

The verdict? Ohmygoodness yum! My crust is a little thick, but it's very tasty and I'm just gonna roll it out thinner next time. I ate a fourth of it all by myself last night. This morning I looked 4 months pregnant. It's that good.

The Crust


2 c flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 tbsp cold butter, divided
6 tbsp cold water

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl. Add butter. Using 2 forks or a pastry cutter, work the butter into the flour until it resembles crumbs. Add water and form a ball. You may need to add more water if the dough is too dry. Just do so 1 tbsp at a time. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 15 minutes.

The Berry Filling


1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 c fresh blackberries
3 tbsp flour
3/4 c sugar
1/4 tsp sea salt
zest of lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon

Combine all ingredients in bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes.

Separate dough into 2 sections. Roll out the pie crust 2 inches larger than pie dish. Place 1 rolled out section in pie dish. Fill with berry mixture. Cover with the 2nd rolled out pie crust. Vent the dough and crimp the edges. Bake at 375 for an hour. Devour!