Ravioli

I have decided that fresh pasta is really the way to go. It really is fairly easy to make, it just takes a bit of forethought. This weekend, I decided to make my own ravioli. I had marinara sauce that I had made from some garden-fresh tomatoes and put in the freezer, and needed something to put it on!

I decided to make large ravioli... my pasta recipe made 24 large ravioli's. I was so excited to eat them that I forgot to take a picture once they were cooked. :)

I served them with both a marinara and an alfredo sauce... both options were delicious! Thank goodness Michael, Amanda, and kiddos were available for dinner, or we would have had way too much food.

I love being in my kitchen. I love creating delicious meals to share with friends and family. This was definitely a meal I will make again!

Busyness

In church today, we heard a sermon about the dangers of busyness. Doug Fields, author of What Matters Most, writes that "busyness makes us look important but cripples our relationships. Busyness feeds our egos but ultimately starve our souls. Busyness fills our calendars but fractures our families. And busyness props up our images but shrinks our hearts."

Wow.

I am busy. We are all busy. And I can see the truth of what Fields writes in areas of my life. I do not want to be so busy that I forget my priorities, that I take my eyes off the important things. I don't want my relationships to suffer - to be crippled; I don't want my soul to be starved, my family to be fractured, or my heart to be hurt because I am too involved.

I don't know how to be less busy. I don't know what to say "no" to. At this point, I'm not sure I need to; however, I am approaching the remainder of this year with a heightened sense of awareness, watching for signs that my busyness is hurting me. Evaluation creates opportunities for change - and this seems a good time to evaluate, prior to considering New Year's resolutions, and identifying where I should be putting my energy that will keep me busy with the right things.

Highland Games

Today was the Celtic Festival and Highland Games! Josh and I went down to check out the festivities:

 The bar was set at 32' in this picture... the athletes were spearing a 16-pound bag with a pitchfork and throwing it over the bar. 

 Over 20 men lined up for the "Bonny Knees" competition - where blindfolded women felt each knee and chose who had the best ones!

 Preparing for the caper toss - the athletes tossed the log (it only counted if it completed a full end-over-end rotation) to see who could toss it the farthest.

The ladies in attire - preparing for the Bonny Knees competition.

We had a great day at the Games! We also viewed a number of vendor booths, found Josh a sporran (a piece of attire needed to complete his formal dress kilt), met a guy who teaches black-smithing (I think Josh will sign up for a class in the spring) and watched a couple of young dance groups. It was a wonderful day to be together, enjoying the sunshine, and experiencing more of Josh's heritage.

Jack has moved inside...

We first picked Jack up hoping that he and Samson would be backyard friends. They are, but they pick on each other a bit as well. Samson is missing a small piece of his ear from their "playing", and Jack has been kicked a few times. We decided that maybe it wasn't such a great idea to keep them together.

So - we've been transitioning Jack inside. He's unsure about the whole thing - he's always been an outside dog - but is starting to settle in. The first time Josh brought him in, he laid in the corner between the couch and the chair and wouldn't come out! 

Now, almost a week later, he'll only go in or out if he's on the leash, but he does like to be inside.

He loves the attention he's getting...

And after playing and wrestling, he loves to lay next to Josh and hang out.

This morning I even let him lick my plate after breakfast... that's a big deal. 

We love Jack. Actually, we've added to his name and now he's Jackson. And he's ours.

Camdon's Birthday - A Day at the Beach!

It has been so much fun having Kaiya and Camdon here... and today, we got to celebrate Camdon's 2nd birthday!

We took the kids to Lucky Peak to play at the beach.

Camdon playing in the sand with his motorcycles

Someone before us had created this little "puddle", which was perfect for the kids. They could play in the water, but knew not to go beyond the little sand berm. Camdon found a toy boat that someone else had left behind, and played with it for almost an hour.

Kaiya was doing a water dance... we all got "splashed" more than once with her water kicks!

 

 And then she was done in the water, and sat on the beach waiting for us to be ready to get dressed again. 

It was a fabulous day! The kids loved the beach (and the water), and it was nice to be outside in the sunshine.

Happy birthday, Camdon! I had a great day playing with you!

Meet Jack - Samson's New Dog

Samson is lonely. He's been the only backyard animal since Tuesday... so today we got him a dog.

Meet Jack!

Jack is 4-years old, and a lab/hound mix. He's shy, but good tempered. He is used to cows, horses, ducks, and other dogs, so we figured he'd be okay with Samson and the chickens.

The "boys" weren't too sure of each other at first:

 

 

But, then they sniffed each other out:

 

 

Then Jack barked, and spooked Samson a bit. He went to stand by Donovan - like he can really hide. :)

 

They are still getting to know each other... we hope they'll become friends, but they're both a bit skittish right now.

PS - the goats are pretty tasty. :)

Two Weeks In...

I am two weeks into my PhD program. The first week was completely overwhelming, just trying to adjust to being back in school, setting aside time for reading, researching, writing, and responding to my classmates. The second week was better; I'm hoping that by the fourth week I've settled into a routine!

I do seem to have a great cohort group; most seem interactive, prompt to post, and thorough in their responses. I suppose that's the benefit of the degree we are seeking; we know what to expect and how to to help one another along the way.

So - 2 weeks down, 206 to go!