Farewell, Sour Cream

I've had some spare time these past few weeks.

And even though job hunting wasn't always fun,

and there were plenty of "getting settled' errands and projects...

the spare time has been a pretty good time.

Lately, said time seems to always be filled with cooking.

Or baking. Or experimenting.

And then eating. 

Obviously.

I'll spare you the details of each shamelessly Instagrammed recipe here,

but I DO want to share a secret with you.

If you listen, you will soon enjoy deliciousness such as this:

Photo from HERE because we ate ours just so, so incredibly fast. All of it.

Ready?

Sour Cream is dead to me.

It has no place in the world anymore.

And this is why:

I've always been a fan of this stuff - after you eat it, 

Yoplait just starts tasting sweet, sweet, sweet. Almost stomachache sweet.

But, I'm a fan of Vanilla. With honey. I can't surrender ALL sweetness, right?

Then I discovered Plain, and it's like Sour Cream's non-fat, older, better-looking cousin.

Make the switch.

And to get you started, here's a recipe adapted from this blog. I crave it, often:

Hot Artichoke and Spinach Dip

Ingredients:

1 jar (6 oz) marinated artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped

1 pkg. (9-11 oz) frozen creamed spinach, thawed

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup PLAIN GREEK YOGURT

1 small garlic clove, pressed or 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Coarsely chop artichokes & put them in a medium bowl. Add spinach, mayonnaise, garlic, Parmesan cheese and sour cream and mix well.

Pour into a shallow baking dish or glass pie pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees.

Serve it with tortilla chips, and see how fast it's gone. All of it.

And to make you happy about it:

1/4 cup Sour Cream: 108 Calories from Fat.

1/4 cup Plain Greek Yogurt: 0 Calories from Fat.

Holla!

We've even put it on these, and in these, and in this. Go try it!

Happy News from Our House

Ready for some good news, highlights version?

a) Michael and I are now the same age. 

Which means... he is still older. Dang it.

But I still enjoyed the happiest of birthdays!

Full of...

Fresh raspberries, funny movies, controversial pictures,

and a dinner at a delicious Turkish restaurant. 

Bring on 24!

b) The mouse moved out.

Something way better moved in.

There is now a wonderful, beautiful keyboard living in our extra bedroom.

I visit often.

Which brings me to other good news...

I just became the piano player for our primary at church!

Sundays just got a whole lot more entertaining.

c) We discovered downtown Indy and all its wonders.

This involved three and a half hours of walking, walking, walking.

Worth it though...see how nice it is?

d) The very next day we discovered the Indianapolis Museum of Art.

It's so much fun. Come visit, and we'll take you.

Plus, they have a greenhouse with the craziest plants.

Even Michael (a.k.a. Father Earth) said he had never seen some of them before, ever.

Look at that pretty one we took home with us...

And see the thousands of tiny people holding us up with their hands?

Modern art is fascinating. 

People are so creative, whether you enjoy how they express it or not.

e) I made our first successful batch of homemade jam!

First of many, actually... 

because I now know that Michael requires a constant supply of this to be truly happy.

I think I'm with him on that.

and finally, the best news of all....

f) I have a JOB! Hallelujah people, many prayers went into that one.

Starting in a couple weeks, 

I'll be a Marketing & Communications Coordinator for a company downtown.

This is happy news! And we're grateful for all the people who have been sending

prayers our way through the job search.

Other happy news includes:

We are gaining serious frisbee skills.

My arm is small enough to grab our frisbee out from under neighbors' fences.

The mouse is GONE. (Worth mentioning again.)

Rainstorms are awesome here. And frequent.

And...the mouse is gone.

Outside the Frame

My friend Elyse recently started an online writing club.

You can check out that post for all the details,

which I love her for sharing.

I'm excited about it. I love reading other people's words,

and sharing mine, too.

Her first prompt: "Find a picture: Write what's happening outside of the frame."

Sundays in the park. We can all relate to that. 

Last Sunday I went exploring with my new husband in our new city, to spend our afternoon in no way in particular. We walked around with our minds on different things, typical. He named all the different trees in the park and planned his someday garden, and I watched people. I like learning what his trees are called, even if I'm terrible with names.

Squirrels were everywhere. They were not quite as afraid of me as I would have preferred. We loved it, though, and Michael threw acorns as fast as he could find them. It was carefree and relaxing, all in all, but outside that moment there was so much to think about.

We were just married, and just moved, and just trying to get a hang of this growing up business. But the pieces you hear about, those aren't the hard parts. Paying bills together, figuring out insurance, looking for a job, making long term plans...that's the growing up you picture. That's what you wonder if you're ready for.

Then it hits, and you just do those things. They need to be done, so you do them. The growing up that's hard is entirely different. What's hard is seeing what "grown ups" deal with. Seeing my friends who lose babies, or can't have babies. The friends who lose trust in the someone they always thought they'd have. The friends who don't want to believe in anything anymore, they're just so tired. Suddenly people all around you are dealing with things you just never really imagined.

At least I didn't.

And then comes the selfish part. I look at the incredibly hard things I see people deal with - from people I barely know to family I love, and I get afraid. If Michael and I keep on with this growing up we're doing, then what's in store? What will happen? There's just more heartbreak in the world than I ever knew up to this point, and it's unnerving. I just never knew.

But, there's the flip side. Although I suddenly see the things these friends are dealing with, I also get a glimpse into the ways they meet what has come. And let me tell you, I have impressive friends. They just have this strength, this way of holding on to what they believe and moving forward.

That's what you do, move forward. Even if you're afraid of what the future holds (and I know it will always hold more good than bad). Even if you're someone that has already faced more than you ever thought you would. Those are the people I look to and learn from, all the time. In fact, I think that's just about everyone, if you hear enough of their story. That's what brings me back to perspective, and takes away my slight desire to freeze life on today. Everyone is dealing with more than we know, which means we're all more capable than we ever realized. Life will be hard, but people are strong.

And no matter what life has in store, there will always be Sundays in the park. We'll always have those. If you're lucky, you'll even see the fluffiest of all Pomeranians being pushed in a stroller. We did.

Forces of Nature

You know, even if you live in fear of a mouse...

Even if you brave said mouse to workout in your living room,

and a spider drops on your head...

You STILL can't deny the beauty of nature.

We live in God's country. 

He didn't mean to put mosquitoes in it, I think.

Happy happy birthday to my wonderful dad!

Look how sweet he is - his kids just loved playing with him.

He played full out too - broken toes to prove it.

And that was just from Hide and Seek.

When I'm a mom, I hope I can be half as hard core as that.

Thanks for all you did and do for us...

I love you, Dad!

And then we were THREE!

It's no longer just Michael and me in this house!

If you're thinking I'm pregnant, I'm not sorry for misleading you - I need your full attention for this awful news.

We have a mouse in our kitchen.

And I no longer go into our kitchen.

Michael saw the little devil when he was reading on our couch, which faces down this hallway.

One look at Michael's face, and I immediately took action with my homemade barricade.

Bubble wrap from my the b-day present my mom sent,

(pics of that later!)

along with all doorway cracks securely yeah right sealed with packing peanuts.

If that mouse is forcing himself into our house, he only gets to be in ONE part of it.

Then I went straight to Target and found these wonderful, wonderful mousetraps. 

A big old arrow points to "CAUGHT" when the mouse goes inside,

and you never even see it. You just throw the box away and never even see the evidence.

(By you, I mean Michael. Unless he's at school, 

in which case I'll spend 15 minutes gathering my courage, 

grab our shovel, and cry on my way to the dumpster.)

If I didn't promise to bring pesto to a church activity tonight,

you can bet money I wouldn't have set foot in that kitchen.

My (admittedly irrational) fear of mice stems from one scarring experience at girls camp,

in a bathroom...

and I'll just never be the same.

On a happier note, we also have THESE visitors stopping by our house each evening:

Now that, I am totally ok with :)