Keepin' it Real -- June 2015

I first thought I'd make a Facebook post out of this. Then I thought again, and decided that the blog was a better place for it. It's not the first time I (or others) have brought up this subject. But it bears repeating. Even if it's only a self-reminder. And I didn't want my Facebook friends to get upset at me, assuming that I was referring to them -- when I'm not.

A couple of days ago, I was clicking through Pinterest, and got to one of those "Summer Home Tours", where bloggers post gorgeous photos of perfect summer homes, with current colors and furnishings, decorated to the hilt, non-existent clutter, or even any evidence of real, actual people living there. Sometimes, there's a token pet, looking lovingly at the camera. After about 4 of the homes on the "tour", I closed it out. It was making me ill.

Nobody lives like that. Nobody.

And if you live like that ---- I don't know you. I don't even know your friends. And you probably already don't like me. Because I don't live like that.

Then the train of thought moved down the tracks to the Facebook Station, and I thought about all the amazing photos that I see on my timeline from friends who are vacationing and visiting wonderful destinations. Fun is the name of that game. And those that aren't traveling? Well, they're on there showing beautiful parties, lovely children, days spent on the river, and other great home-scenes.

And I get it -- we want to share our good times. And we want photos of us from our "good side". I have very FEW friends who are down, depressed, sarcastic, or negative. At least, they generally don't show it on Facebook. So everything on the timeline is all happy-happy-joy-joy --------- and Perfect.

I know my friends and family don't really live like that, either. They are not Perfect. They are REAL.

I thought about my own Facebook (and blog) posts. Yes -- it's my "good side" that shows, too. But there's also the OTHER side. The side that doesn't get shown to the public. But it's just as real. In fact, it's even MORE real than what I show.

In the interest of still Keepin' In Real --- here's a few REAL moments from our lives lately .......

•  Emma finished out t-ball. Sure, she had fun. What's REAL? The other night, she totally tripped and fell on her face, while running from first to second base.
  
•  The yard looks good? Well yes, it does right how -- it's a direct result of prepping it to look nice for a wedding. And it's a good thing, because we're kind of out of time for working on it right now. But what's REAL? Real is: Todd digging out the leaking sprinkler head [in the dark, in a hole fully of muddy water] to fix it. REAL is also the layer of tiny red weeds that is overtaking the garden. It reminds me of, "War of the Worlds".
• Darcie mowed that cool pattern in the lawn? Yes, she did. REAL? She got an interesting sunburn on the top of her knees from it. **Just** the tops of her knees. Sitting in the sunshine at the kiosk at her new job is probably not helping that.
  
• Sleeping out on the trampoline? Yes. I'm actually kind of surprised that it's not killing my back to sleep out there. Been out there 3-4 times now this summer. What's REAL? Trying to sleep out to catch the Aurora Borealis, and discovering at 12:18 am that one of the sprinklers did *not* get turned off for the night. Oh, yes, .... it hit us, and by 12:30, we were camped out in the family room. Never did get to see (or get photos) of the Northern Lights.
• REAL is being behind on the blog, And being SO behind, that you don't know where to start. Or what to include. Or how to even get caught up.
• REAL is knowing that you're living proof that acne doesn't stop at age 20. Or age 30. Or even age 40.
• REAL is bread and buns that go moldy before we can eat the whole package.
• REAL is suicidal trees or flowers in the yard that are determined to die.
• REAL is the six-year-old that manages to chop off a potted plant at soil level, simply by "watering" it. (What??? No witnesses on that!)
• REAL is piles of outgrown or worn out clothes on the floor. For DAYS.
• REAL is dried out play-doh -- not just on the counter, but all over the dining room floor.  
• REAL is gallons of fresh cherries and raspberries -- that you give away to other people, because you don't have time to deal with them. (Remind me why we're growing these if WE don't get any of the benefits?)
• REAL is the phrase, "I'm bored! There's nothing to do!"  You may also hear that phrase. But this isn't coming after a dull morning at home -- this is less than TWO minutes into a five-minute-long car ride. Gimme a break!!
• REAL is the entire cup of lemonade hitting the garage floor.  And late-night hose-downs to eliminate the stickiness.
• REAL is a really big project that lands at your feet, and supercedes all other pending projects.
• REAL is un-made beds, un-washed dishes, floors that need swept and laundry that needs done. It's aches and pains, sore knees and sore backs and toenails that get removed.

REAL is other things, also.

REAL is sleeping in -- but not exactly, as we head outdoors for peaceful, cool, early-morning walks.
REAL is penny-wishes at the fountain outside the library.
REAL is watering and weeding and spraying (and spraying some more!), and feeding, and mowing (and mowing some more!).
REAL is making homemade ice cream with the ball-style maker.
REAL is reading one of your favorite book series to your six-year-old, and she loves it, too.
REAL is your sweetheart surprising you with a new book that you love.
REAL is really, really big Father's Day gifts that the whole family can share in. (more on that later)
REAL is beautiful blossoms on the shrubbery.
REAL is fancy lettering on sidewalks and envelopes -- because, hey! It's a cheap hobby!!
REAL is starting piano lessons, the Tooth Fairy, and learning to ride a bike. (Well, sort of.)
REAL is late-night runs for slushies and milkshakes.
REAL is snuggling with people we love at the end of the day, and counting our blessings.

Life happens.

We take what we're dealt, the good with the bad, and thank our Heavenly Father for all our blessings. We try not to compare ourselves with others. We don't lead jet-setting, fabulous lives. We don't get to travel that much. But we do live comfortably. And we do appreciate what we have. And we have each other -- which is a lot.

More from our Wedding Weekend ...

We are officially in Wedding-Recovery Mode! Most stuff has been put away, or returned if it was borrowed. Leftover cake is in the freezer. (Oy!!) Our Happy Couple is back from their honeymoon and settling into their apartment together. Whew!!

If you're looking for the post about Alyssa's wedding, please click HERE.

We were sure glad to have our adult kids back in the house, as well as some of the extended Duerden family members in town for Alyssa & Andrew's wedding, and having them stay for an extra day before heading back home. It was so nice to visit and eat and just talk. (This was a definite plus for having the wedding on Memorial Day Weekend.)

These are just a few of the photos I grabbed while they were here. I quite frankly missed any photos of Cheryl's family, and of Cecilia. (How did that happen??) It was not intentional. I really need to start paying more attention to photo subjects. I blame it on having wedding-brain. I'm lucky I could string two sentences coherently together.

I definitely didn't miss getting pictures of the grandbaby! We were so glad to get some time with the adorable Giselle!

I'm pretty impressed that she will come to us, mostly. She's still a little iffy about Todd. That goatee is a bit intimidating!! I think she'd get over it if she saw us a bit more often. She was almost 11 months old here. Not quite walking yet, but it will be soon!

Cheryl and I grabbed the bride's and maid of honor bouquets for a little sisterly bonding....

(don't we look cute?)

I still love those flowers. They turned out so nice!

Emma loved playing with Giselle, and showing her the toys at Grandma & Grandpa's house. (That still sounds so weird for me!)

And the boys were in the HOUSE!

(Were they ever!!)

Never pass up an opportunity for a good set of chorus line kicks.

Or an opportunity for some charming baby pictures.....

Love those little chubby arms!

Wedding Preview

Isn't it funny how life can keep me from staying updated on the blog?

Lately, I've been trying to stay focused on each moment and on living each moment right then. Like Ferris Bueller, I'm worried that life will pass me by.

So, while trying to keep all the regular plates still spinning, we've been madly preparing for Alyssa & Andrew's wedding, which was on Memorial Day Weekend! It's been exciting, and fun, and I'll be honest -- a bit stressful -- and yet, really really wonderful.

I'm glad we had a photographer there to capture everything, so I could worry less about having my camera handy. In fact, other than a few shots that morning, I took no photos. Most of what you see here was either taken by my brother-in-law, or by Darcie with Alyssa's cell phone. I'm really grateful to them for the shots they've shared with me. Otherwise, I'd have nothing until we get the final edited shots from our photographer!!

So, here are a few snippets. A preview. Of Alyssa and Andrew's wedding day, last Saturday.....

Alyssa was a sweetheart and gave gift bags to each of her attendants. A million years ago, when I got married, I never did anything like that. But apparently, today it's a Thing! Who knew? Not me!

They're all so adorable. I'm kinda partial to the three in the middle that are mine! Alys got each bag personalized with their initials, and filled them with beachy-things. (It wasn't a beach-themed wedding, but beach was the theme of the bags.) 

No stresses for these beauties!!

I can't thank those girls enough for all they did that day!

We'd originally planned to hold the wedding in the same location as the reception, but changed that to holding it in our back yard instead. (In another post, I'll share some of what we were doing to prepare the yard for the wedding.) Since some of the groomsmen weren't arriving until late Friday night, we had a short, informal wedding rehearsal on the morning of the wedding, and then sent all the guys off to get tuxes fitted. While that was happening, Todd was preparing a big sub sandwich lunch spread for all the family members and attendants, and I brought bridesmaids with me to go pick up the flowers: 

I really love the colors and the bouquets were so beautiful! (Alyssa's bride's bouquet is on the right in the middle--her wrist has the navy bracelets.)

The flowers are their own story alone, but the short version is that we fired the first florist, and this is the work of the second florist. And I am so pleased with how they turned out. In fact, we are at T+5 days from the wedding, and the girls' bouquets still look almost the same as that day -- they were THAT fresh.

The florist also made this beautiful arch/spray for the top of the arbor:

Did you catch that? Here it is, a bit closer up.....

So beautiful!!

The girls all assembled in our living room, before heading outdoors for the wedding. Darcie is the queen of selfies!!

Sure love my beautiful daughters! That picture makes me tear up.

The ceremony was simple, and really, the weather was perfect. If anything, it might have been a bit "too sunny" for photos, but that sure beats rain!! Here we go.....

(That's our Cameron on the end as one of the groomsmen, and Andrew's brother, Lee, is next to him as his best man. We were also glad that Brandon and Cecilia were also able to make it [it was a "maybe", due to work, up until the last minute], and super-thankful for Brandon handling the music at both the wedding and reception.)

That was just before Emma-the-flower-girl arrived. She took her job seriously, and later confided to me that she was "so nervous". I think the girls had a challenge with their heels sinking into the grass, but they handled it beautifully.

Todd held it together, but he sure had a tender moment as he walked his girl down the aisle. I'd gotten my tears out during photos earlier, but seeing his face made me (and many others) a bit weepy!

Andrew had not seen Alyssa's gown before the wedding, so that was her surprise for him. Her gown is an ivory lace, with a champagne satin underlay, with a v-neck, cap sleeves and princess seaming. It has that killer row of satin buttons down her back, and we added a satin belt with a blingy accent on the front. It fit her very nicely (especially after 2 rounds being altered!) and is very elegant. Not a bit cutesy at all. Her veil is about hip-length and is edged with pearls and stones. She did not wear it as a "blusher" over her face. She's wearing a string of pearls and pearl earrings from her Aunt Cheryl for both her "something old" and "something borrowed".

Emma continued to toss petals -- onto Alyssa's train -- during the ceremony.

Ha!!

The rings, ... the kiss....

As the recessional finished, Darcie also grabbed this super-fun selfie with all the group of attendants. That's Todd and me way off in the background, following up....

As maid-of-honor, Darcie wore opposite colors as the bridesmaids. We found that "coral" can be hard to match (especially if it's not one of the "in" colors this season), but navy is pretty consistent. Alyssa's other colors are mint green and gold. Our florist even thought ahead, and wrapped Darcie's bouquet with opposite ribbon, too, and then used green jewels in all the girls' bouquets.

Our photographer stole the happy couple away for some shots --

... out in the raspberries and the forsythia, ...

which turned out like this:

I can't wait to see more of the photos -- but it will be about a month. If we don't all die of anticipation, it will be a small miracle!

I'm super-thankful that the day went off [mostly] without a hitch. We definitely had some hiccups leading up to it, and we are also definitely thankful that we threw together a "wedding day emergency kit", because we sure used stuff out of that, too!!

And, ...... it was so wonderful to have ALL of my kids in the same place, once again.

Is this heaven?

Albondigas Soup

We are just a few days into spring, so we're kind of getting out of what I consider to be, "soup weather", but I'm sharing this recipe anyway. This is another one of my family's favorite soups, and the best part about this, is that it's super-easy, super-fast, and super-yummy!

I'm sure you could find this recipe somewhere online, because that's where I got it. Years ago. For the life of me, I cannot remember where it came from, though.

It's rather meant to be a crock pot soup. And while I have prepared it in a crock pot, these days I'm actually more likely to prepare it on the fly, because it can go together in a hurry. If you're a bit more of a purist and and make-it-yourself kind of person, it will take a bit longer. You'll see why in a minute.

Here we go....

Albondigas is Spanish for "meatball", so this is a Mexican meatball soup. It's not really a traditional albondigas (So, sorry to my children, but heads up, guys: if you order it in a restaurant, it is NOT going to look or taste like this.), because this soup is really tomato-based, and usually Albondigas is not like that. But this is an easy soup because it starts with prepared foods:

Albondigas Soup

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cans tomato soup

2-3 cans water

1 can corn, not drained

favorite salsa, to taste (up to 1 cup or more)

24-30 frozen meatballs

1 T. minced onion (I use the jarred Costco stuff)

If you're cooking it in a crockpot, then you would just combine all the ingredients, set it, and go. You want at least 4 hours cooking time, to develop the flavor and let the meatballs soak up the juices.

But this is how I usually do it: I cook the onion in a little olive oil in a skillet. I like it to get a little caramelized and take on some color at this point, but you don't have to. The important thing to know is that the sooner you're going to serve, the more important it is to cook the onion first. If you're throwing this on the table in a half hour, the onion will be too underdone if you don't cook it first.

Then start combining ingredients: soup, soup cans of water, corn, salsa, minced garlic, and the cooked onion.

The salsa is your choice, and if you want a milder soup, you can actually use a can of diced tomatoes with bell peppers, instead of the salsa. But if you like it hot, just use hot salsa, and lots of it. I usually use a mild-to-medium, pre-made salsa, and I put about a cup in. You can use more or less, it just depends on taste.

The easy part is the meatballs! If you're a Holly Homemaker, go ahead and knock yourself out making homemade meatballs. (I'd prepare the soup in the same pan that you cook the meatballs.) But frozen meatballs are the way to go. If you're doing it in the crock pot all day, you can put the frozen meatballs right into the crock. If you're in a hurry -- pre-cook the meatballs in the microwave, like I do, and then add them to your soup pot.

About 4 or 5 minutes on high, stopping once to re-arrange them.

Then add them to the soup. Stir it all up, bring to a boil, and then simmer until you're ready to eat.

Ok. Or put it all in the crock pot. Whatever floats your meatball.

We serve it by topping it with shredded cheddar, and the kids like to dip tortilla chips in it, as well.

It really is SUPER good.

The only one who doesn't like it is Emma. And she won't eat anything outside of her comfort zone. (Which includes anything with tomatoes. Not even ketchup.

I know. She's a sick, sick child.)

The rest of us scarf it down, and what little remains as leftovers is usually gone the very next day. That's my barometer for a winning recipe -- even the leftovers get eaten quickly.

Hope you like it, too!

laundry room progress

Since you don't live with it, you've probably forgotten that we're kind of in the middle of another remodel job. If you've been reading, you might recall that I wrote about the beginning of the project back HERE.

It's kind of interesting to be working on the laundry room. I'm pretty sure we have moved the washer and dryer in and out of the laundry room at least three or four times now, so far. And by "we", I mean "Todd." He takes them out so he can work on the room, and then moves them back in so I can get the laundry done again. The appliance hand truck is getting a lot of mileage on it!!

Here's some of what's been happening:

To accommodate some of the cabinetry, it was necessary to move the door to the laundry room. Last night, Todd and I were tallying up how many doors have been moved or changed or added in our house. So far, that is. We're at 6, and have another in the immediate plans. That doesn't count the replacement of 8 doors in the basement, not long after we moved in. (They didn't move -- just got updated and lightened up.)

So, moving the door meant patching in sheetrock and then mud, tape, & texture.

Now THAT, ladies, is a paddle attachment for your mixer!

Todd fills the hopper with the thinned mud, and attaches the air compressor to it.

Then he's ready to shoot:

We taped off EVERYTHING. Ceiling, floor, wall, brick, and hall space on each side. It takes about 4-5 times as long to get the tape and plastic all in place as it does to actually shoot the texture. Todd textured the inside of the laundry room at the same time.

 

I would have preferred no texture at all inside the room -- just smooth. Because it will go with the design plan. But Todd wanted at least a light "orange peel" texture on.

Outside the room (the hallway), Todd duplicated the "knocked-down" texture that is everywhere in the house. So he allows the mud to partially dry, then he comes back with his trowel and skims the top of it off. (When I was a kid, I used to look for "pictures" in the wall texture next to my bed -- like looking for cloud pictures in the sky.)

By the time we were done, you can't even tell that the wall is new there. It looks like it's always been that way. In fact, a lot of the family members don't realize that the door is over about a foot. We've painted it with the hall color/living room color, and it's all finished out, except for the door casing. 

(Don't start a discussion on the actual COLOR of the paint. Todd maintains that it's "green", and I say that it's more of a neutral tan/taupe [with green undertones]. It kind of depends on what light and time of day it is.) Take a look at the living room, and see what you think, in THIS POST. Sometimes the room just looks like a different color.

Anyway. Then we moved on to painting. Since the drywall is new, it needed primer first.

Emma loves to help painting. Don't you love her form?!

The color might be hard to tell in photos, but it's a gray with definite blue tones in it.

(Typical breakdown of painting tasks: Todd does the rolling, and I do the brush in the corners.)

That was also the kidnapping weekend (read about our spontaneous weekend trip to get Alyssa, HERE.), so Alyssa helped Emma out with painting, also. And, trust me, when I tell you that having FOUR people and a stepladder in a 6'x9' room was rather cramped!

The new laundry room will be less than half the size of the old laundry room, but it should be fully functional and -- can I say it? -- even PRETTY -- when we're done.

And finally, ...

Yesterday, Todd finished getting all the tile laid for the laundry room floor.

And yes.

We know that it looks really weird (and wrong) to have a flooring change right in the middle of the doorway. That's what we get for moving the door, right?

We'll get that taken care of, too. It's just not high on the priority list at the moment.

And don't you just love Todd's pricey tile spacers he's using here? They work!!

And I guarantee, they don't cost more than a penny apiece.

I'm loving the wood-look tiles we chose, and the weathered gray coloring. They are 6"x24" tiles, and laid in a 1/3 offset, so they really mimic a wood floor, but WAY easier to clean, maintain, and they're perfect for in a "wet" area of the house.  SO excited, here!!

You may not be able to see, but the grout is not done yet.

I'm thinking we need to move the washer and dryer back into the room again so I can get caught up on laundry again before we move on to grout!!

(And in the mean time, last night, Todd wired up 4 can lights, and is ready to hang the pendant -- though we'll probably wait for the cabinetry to be installed first.)

It's certainly coming along!!