haphazard musings

whew! Insta-Friday

what a crazy couple weeks.  i finished all my classwork and wrote a 13 page paper! 

so sorry for the lack of posts.  but i will hopefully have some time this summer, classes don't restart until July 9th and then it's only a one hour online class.  

ie...Lindsay is jumping up and down!

and here is a view of what we've been up to lately.

happy cookie!

peek-a-boo!

happy pre-school art.

piano time.

no words...

chocolate, strawberry, whipped cream goodness

k-state gardens

yay Emily!

rainbow veggies

spring walks

 

a cake & deviled egg post.

here is the final session of my day of cooking. : )

fun fact: i have never boiled an egg.

un-fun fact: i am apparently not so good at it.

un-fun fact 2: i don't even like deviled eggs...

so you may ask, "why are you making them?"  well the answer is simple.  my mom told me to. 

now you may ask, "you still do what your mom says even though you are 28?"  

yup - that's what she taught me to do when i was 8.  oh well.

fun fact 2: i found out later that mom wanted me to make deviled eggs because she doesn't like doing it. 

so i followed the recipe exactly like it said...

bring to boil. remove from heat. let sit 10 minutes. drain and rinse in cold water.

 

peel to get the ugliest hard boiled eggs ever.  continue this task for like an hour.  break a couple.  squish out the middles.

 

make what i assume was a yummy filling.  i never tried it.  use a baggie and squirt out the filling in pretty little piles.  sprinkle with paprika so they look pretty.  take them on a car ride so they can all fall over.  ugh.

tell your mom, you are never making deviled eggs again!

then go shopping.

then go to a party with Sheldon - BAZINGA!

then make a cake.

i have a new rule about cakes: they should all include 1 pound of butter, 3 cups of sugar and 6 eggs.  also, add fruit.  then you have a really good, healthy cake.  the fruit cancels out the butter. trust me.

 

now we know why this is a pound cake right - you use a pound of butter...when i don't acutally have a fun fact, i just make one up.

it was getting late and i forgot to take a few pictures...but you know just mix everything together and you get this!

 

fun fact 3: coat the blueberries in flour so they don't sink.  i did it, and they didn't sink, but i can't guarantee that it really helps.  since i didn't try it without. :)

bake it for a while then frost it with a powdered sugar/milk glaze.

cut off the top (or bottom depending on how you look at it) so it sits flat, mine got a little ugly, then eat a bunch of it, then pray a little prayer that it comes out when you turn it upside down.  if it doesn't hit it really hard around the sides, say another prayer, and give it a good hard shake. :)

 
 

fun fact 4: the ratio of powdered sugar to milk is not one to one.  its WAY more sugar than milk. just for your future reference.  so just keep adding sugar til it's nice and drizzley.

add the drizzle and the fruit to make it pretty!

tell everyone who eats it how much butter is in it.  it really makes it better!

 

a day of cooking!

Last Saturday, I spent the day cooking.  And when i say "last Saturday" I really mean the one before Easter.  But who's counting?

I meant to start the day at 7:00 to get everything in, but of course, I didn't make it up at 7.  I clearly remember turning off the alarm at 7:30 and then just not getting up.  

well done.  

So 8:30 rolls around and I decide it's time.  So I made myself a happy cup of coffee (with foam) in my favorite mug, turned on my itunes, and got started.

I had to make a cake, dinner to take to friends, deviled eggs, and passion tea lemonade. I also had to go to a birthday party and go shopping.  

Here are the links to the recipes (but I will share them in stages otherwise this post will take 40 years to read, you know how i tend to ramble):

The Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti

 

Lemon Blueberry Pound Cake

Rachael Ray's Basic Deviled Eggs

My Passion Tea Lemonade (Starbuck's photo...my version...)

i have now discovered that my food photography skills TOTALLY stink!  my word.

so anyway, i started two big pots of boiling water and got to work.

The chicken spaghetti is one of my new favorites!  It's so creamy and yummy and easy.  Everyone should try it.

I do nothing fancy to it, but I don't follow the recipe exactly, so I will just show my changes. :)

First, I am never into chopping up a hole chicken or dealing with all the bones.  It just takes too much time.  So I boiled and chopped a pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and a pound of boneless, skinless thighs.

While that was in the pot working, I chopped all the veggies.  I added carrots and garlic to the recipe this time, so I also sauted them, just to give them a head start (and you may notice I don't use pimentos. I don't even know what they are, but they remind me of olives, so that is a no go.).

While the veggies sauted a few minutes, I barley cooked some linguini, just until it got a tiny bit soft and shredded a giant pile of cheese.

Drain the noodles, and put them back in the same big pot and dump everything together.  I use two things here PW doesn't.  I add a small can of chopped green chiles for smokey-ness and use chicken stock from a box instead of the water I cooked the chicken in (mostly cuz I am lazy).

All that's left is to put it in a casserole dish and sprinkle the extra cheese on top and bake.  I divided it into two smaller dishes and froze one for later. (Just leave the cheese off the top to freeze.)  This makes a TON.

a little country drive

turned out to be a really fun picture taking extravaganza.

ryan took me around his grandparents' "neighborhood" and showed me the sights.  so let me take you on a tour.

i forgot to take a photo of the outside of our vehicle, but this one is kinda funny.

stop 1: a cute little barn that ryan really wanted to explore. and i quote, "sometimes there are owls in here!!!"

upon closer inspection there were no owls to be found, ryan banged on every door and wall he could hoping to scare them out...but we did find some treasures.

just look at all that old barn wood...all dented and scratch and weathered in just the right places...there are so many projects, i can't even stand the excitement!!!

i really wanted that ladder for some reason, but ryan not only informed me that it was attached to the barn, but that it "probably isn't sturdy enough for you..."

seriously, check out my tour guide's beard...it's like a...well i don't know what, but i think i'll keep him anyway.

stop 2: meet & greet.

meet grumpy.  she was not a fan of the paparazzi.

hello gorgeous!  she was totally up for striking the perfect show-ready stance. aren't red cows the best?

greetings from stop 3: another barn.

i love a door that half opens and half stays closed - seems so old fashioned.

whose up for climbing that ladder?  i loved the inside of this barn even though i was a little hesitant to touch anything...

stop 4: me: wait! that's a nice view!  stop!

stop 5: the grain bins.

(sorry for the shadow, move photographer, duh.)

a big sweep auger.  it pulls the grain to the middle so the other auger can get it out and shoot it into the semi. 

ryan was really excited to show me this part, as i have never seen a grain bin, let alone climbed into one.  but we forgot to take pictures of that.  sorry.

stop 6: the junk pile!

cast iron bathtub from 1919, too bad Kelsey has already claimed it.  i thought it would make a cool planter.

a rusty wagon wheel. i didn't bring that home, it was too big. :(  but i also have no idea what to do with it.

(note the grain bin in the photo)

ryan got super excited about the old rusty farm implements.  i called them tractors, but was informed that they were not tractors.  they are actually implements.  and almost all of them were used by his great-grandfather and were pulled by horses.  he thought we should bring one home for a lawn decoration.  i thought maybe we should wait on that one.

and here ends our tour of the country north of sabetha.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

on silence...

silence is an interesting thing.

have you ever really thought about it? i did today over lunch.  

i was sitting on a park bench eating a pb&j and wondering if i had ever truly experienced silence because i was so annoyed by all the noise (literal and figruative) around me: trucks, the grain elevator, people walking by, lawn mowers, and so on.  i moved to a couple different picnic tables and benches to find a "quiet" spot.

i thought i had found one, but as i was reading some poetry by Coleridge (for class...don't be impressed.), i was having a hard time hearing my reading over all the noise.  in this case it was a metaphorical noise: what should i do for dinner, what time do i need to leave for class, what should i do about this decision.

they (whoever "they" are...) say that "silence is golden." but why?  

you are in luck, i have a theory.

i can only think of a few times when i have been able to turn it all off and block it all out.  

it seems most of those times, when i have really experienced quiet, has been when i am in a beautiful place.

when i am in the middle of nowhere.  and my friends, the middle of nowhere is hard to find these days - it a much farther drive than it used to be.  

and here is my theory.  

first, there are way too many things in my house, outside, at the office, etc that are constantly whirring or buzzing.  things that are constantly "on" or people that are driving by.  i want to go outside and hear the birds singing, leaves rustling, bull frogs grunting, brooks bubbling, and nothing man made.  when i was a kid, i feel like i could hop on my bike and ride for 5 or 10 minutes and reach a place where i could experience those things.  as an adult, i feel like it would take a 30 minute drive to get far enough away to listen for those things.

so now i just need to learn how to listen for those sounds amdist the noise of the 21st century, and i might be able to have enjoy the quiet.

second, silence, the metaphorical kind, the silence that happens when i shut down all the thoughts in my head, can only happen when i am content.

"silence is golden" because when you can really experience it, you are living in peace, trust, rest, quiet.  i think i experience silence in beautiful places, because all the sudden i am so wrapped up in the Glory of God and the beauty of creation that i am able to ignore all the little thoughts, all the sounds, all of the stuff that makes us human and just "be" in that moment with God.  

Step out of the traffic!  Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above everything.
Psalm 46:10, The Message

that is golden silence, in it's truest form.

the question, however, remains...how do we let ourselves just be amid the noise of everyday?   

 

on entertaining and easy meals

i thought i might start a new segment on the blog called "on [insert topic here]" to tell you what lindsay thinks about certain things.  so i am starting with entertaining and easy meals.

first of all, i love to entertain.  i love having people over.  i love cooking food for them.  i love using all my dishes to cook the meal and then serve the meal.  i love when it can be a little formal (presentation wise) but super casual in feel. 

if you were to ask my mother where i got that love, she would (i think) tell you it wasn't from her.  not that she doesn't enjoy company, not that she doesn't enjoy good food, but it's just not something she loves to do. 

i think the key to my happy love of entertaining is that i don't let it stress me out! 

i use simple recipes that are guaranteed to be really good and everyone will love. 
nothing in my house is fancy - period. 
and everyone who comes over gets the real "frasier experience".

my house is rarely ever magazine cover ready and it almost always looks lived in, but i figure as long as there isn't mud on the floor or wet slimy chicken goobers on the counters, we're good. :)

but there may be a giant bowl of chicken bones...

isn't that disgusting?!? :)

my table is very simple to set and thanks to the parents on the Frasier side, we have an awesome table that seats 12 (and lots of pretty dishes)!

my recipes are easy and simple (which is the key for me...i don't love complicated, it just makes more mess to clean up later, and trust me my messes are big wnough without complicated.)

last time we had our small group (12 people - not really that small but we love them all), i made roasted chicken legs (aka Pollo Asado) from here.  i love me some pioneer woman.

step 1. make a marinade and have your hubby squeeze the life and juice out of lemons and limes and oranges. 

put a few rinds down the sink and turn on your disposal and your whole kitchen will smell yummy!!!

step 2.  put the marinade on the chicken.  refridgerate overnight.

step 3.  arrange all 36 drumsticks on baking sheets.

doesn't uncooked chicken look disgusting.

step 4.  turn them over half way through cooking, then serve 'em up and let everyone shred their own for their tacos!  (don't forget to take a picture - everyone showed up and i got distracted.) 

step 5.  check your oven for a lost chicken leg.  sometimes they like to jump ship.  otherwise you end up with a disgustingly charred mess the next time you pre-heat your oven.  which may or may not have happened to me.  which also may or may not mean it was there for three or four days just chillin.  so gross.

in my opionion the key to loving entertaining is to keep it simple. 

repeat that to yourself over and over: simple is good.

so there you go.  easy entertaining by lindsay. :)

and just because they looked pretty in the under-cabinet lighting the wonderful hubs installed:

 

 

 

how to make a rainy week happy.

in an effort to continue to choose joy in my life, i will now show you the things that make me joyful this week!

1. a little snuggle time with those little cheeks!!!

2. tree faces.

3. a whole street full of springtime blooms.

4. my umbrella that is full of beautiful pink, green, teal, blue and yellow happy polka dots makes me feel like i could do this:

source

do you just LOVE Mary Poppins? i always have.  maybe i need a spoonful of sugar.  :)

5. this guy!

for a whole bunch of reasons, but mostly becaue he doesn't know how to take a "normal" picture.

6.  coffee with friends who are always willing to share and listen and keep it real!

7. 96 days til we go here!

thanks mom and dad for the photo. :)  Hawaii my friends! wahoo.

8. rain.  ask any farmer or rancher in your life and they will tell you: a week of rain can never be a bad thing!  a full pond is a happy pond.

what made you joy-filled this week?

 

 

what started out to be

a nice little walk turned out to be a nice little mountain climb.

we were visiting Ryan's grandparents in Sabetha this weekend.  It's about 3 hours from here.  They live on a century farm there.  Pretty cool.

But on Saturday I went exploring aka walking.  Ryan asked which way I was going and I said south. 

He said, "Ok, but there will be a couple hills." 

I said, "Good deal."

Little did I know that I could train for the mountain section of the Tour de France in Sabetha, KS.  But that is what it felt like I was doing.

Finley and I were both pooped after about half a mile.  The hills were huge and not to mention the 30 mile an hour winds blowing dirt into my sweaty face.  I was quite dirty when I had completed my 4.4 miles.

anyway...here is what we saw on our walk (I took my phone in case I got lost or couldn't make it back to the house because I forgot I had to turn around....)

hill #1

i like to take pictures through things...is that weird?

doesn't that picture make you feel like you just went back in time about 100 years?  or more?

side bar: speaking of going back in time, have you seen "Midnight in Paris"?  such a good movie!  and if you didn't have the travel bug before you watched it, you will after.

i love, love, love this old crumbling bridge.  the sign even says it can handle a one ton truck...doesn't look like it to me.  i stepped carefully... :)

almost there...can you see the farm in the background?  just left of center there is a white spot and a cluster of trees...that's the farm.  i love that finley's ears and tongue are blowing in the wind - that's how windy it was.

we went and measured how far i went and found out i did about 4.5 miles.  not a bad hike.  i always enjoy exploring new places.  maybe next time i will go north and explore the state of Nebraska...

or maybe not. 

 

101 in 1001 Days

Well kids, I have the final update on my 101 in 1001 Days.  

I managed to finish 53 things on the list.  Which seems a little sad, but also seems kind of good.  I did over half the things and started a few more than that.  

It turns out that some of the things were a little beyond my control, but it was fun to see what I accomplished.  I will have to make a new list.  It may not be so long, some of the things were just to fill out the 101 things, but another list coming soon. 

What should be on my new list?

Lindsay’s 101 in 1001 Days

 

Start date: Monday, January 19, 2009

Finish date: Monday, October 17, 2011

 

Personal / Being healthy

1.      Make some really long term goals.

2.      Run a 5K. (Emma Creek Classic - 4.24.10)

3.      Run a 10K. (Easter Sun Run - 4.23.11)

4.      Stick to my read the Bible in a year plan.

5.      Start & keep a prayer journal – at least once a week. (0/143)

6.      Play on a rec league team

7.      Pray more often.

8.      Workout 4 days a week for a month. (4/4) (06.10)

9.      Eat more fruits and veggies.

10.  Eat out less.

11.  Floss.

12.  Get new glasses. (5.6.09)

13.  Remember reusable shopping bags when going shopping.

14.  Work on praying for specific things and for His will.

15.  Listen for God’s instruction to take on a project or to create a project.

16.  Share my faith with someone.

17.  Have a better attitude about work.

 

Financial

18.  Make weekly dinner plans.

19.  Increase our monetary giving.

20.  Learn to save.

21.  Double our savings/investments.

22.  Put away at least $100 a month. (33/33)

23.  Buy a digital SLR camera. (04.10.10)

24.  Stick to the budget.

25.  Buy a new computer – a MAC.

26.  Buy an original piece of art. (Mexico - 2.26.10)

27.  Make a list before going to the store – every time.

 

Family & Friends

28.  Explore & choose a way for us to invest in the family ranch.

29.  Increase the size of our family.

30.  Write one letter or personal note to a friend or family member each month. (25/33)

31.  Update the blog regularly…not just once a month.

32.  Take a Saturday to spend in McPherson with the girls shopping & exploring. (12.09)

33.  Take time to call friends that don’t live here. 

34.  Host a fancy dinner party.

35.  Host a marathon game night.

36.  Take a class at Wichita Center for the Arts with Mom.

37.  Celebrate our 4^th anniversary! (01.06.11)

38.  Pray for our small group once a week.

39.  Send cards and presents on time!

40.  Bathe Finley once a month. (20/33)

41.  Have a movie marathon with friends and popcorn (the good kind). (Jill - Jane Austen - 04.10)

42.  Make breakfast/brunch ten times. (9/10)

 

The House

43.  Make a cleaning schedule.

44.  Stick to the cleaning schedule.

45.  Finish decorating the house.

46.  Plant both flowerbeds.  (6.09)

47.  Touch up the paint job in the living room.  (4.4.09)

48.  Plant 2 trees. (2/2) (4.18.10)

49.  Decorate above the cabinets.

50.  Make sense of the basement. (3.28.09, Sept 2011)

51.  Tile the bathrooms and kitchen.  (01.18.10)

52.  Fold and put laundry away when its clean.

53.  Keep fresh flowers in the house for a whole month. (12.09)

 

Just Because 

54.  Spend six weekends without TV. (6/6)

55.  Catch, tag, & weigh a calf alone. (summer 2011)

56.  Hand make all family & friend birthday cards.

57.  Finish college scrapbook.

58.  Go on a picnic – with the blanket and the basket from our wedding.

59.  Take more pictures.

60.  Spend a weekend with all the girls from college.  (Tiff’s Bachelorette – 4.4.09)

61.  Baby-sit for friends so they can have a night out. (Lakey’s 4.24.09 – 4.25.09)

62.  Paint a painting to frame.

63.  Get a pet fish.

64.  Watch a Sunset. (02.21, 02.22, 02.23, 02.24.10)

65.  Watch a Sunrise.

66.  Fill up with one tank of gas, pick a direction, see where we end up.

67.  Start our own holiday traditions.

68.  Organize craft supplies.  (3.28.09)

69.  “Create” a crafting room.

70.  Go to a Farmer’s Market

71.  Buy a pair of red shoes. (01.23.10)

72.  Plant a garden.  (5.9.09)

 

Travel

73.  Go on the Frasier Farms trail ride with Ryan.

74.  Get a new stamp in my passport. (Mexico - 02.21.10, China 07.2012)

75.  Go on a family trip – the whole family. (Scheduled - July 2012)

76.  Go skiing. (Winter Park - March 2011)

77.  Go on a weekend getaway.

78.  Camp – using only what I can carry in my backpack.

79.  Spend day at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

80.  Take an out-of-state trip with Ryan.  (College Station, TX 2.19.09)

81.  Visit our friends that don’t live in Newton. (April 2011)

82.  Visit four unique Kansas attractions. (4/4) 

                 Botanica – Wichita (5.9.09)
                       Boot Hill – Dodge City (6.19.09)
                       BoBo Drive In – Topeka (9.26.09)
                      Coronado Heights - Lindsbourgh (04.18.10)

83.  Visit our grandparents twice. (2/2) (June 2010)

 

Learn something

84.  Read one book per month (5 of which Ryan can choose). (33/33)

Confessions of a Shopaholic, Imperial Woman, One Tuesday Morning, Beyond Tuesday Morning, Angels and Demons, Book of Job, Utopia, New Atlantis, Paper Bodies, The Lost Symbol, Love Walked In, Pride and Prejudice, The Help, The Last Song (ryan), Jane Austen Ruined My Life (ryan), The Age Curve, Little Bee, Belong To Me, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, Pudd'nhead Wilson, Maggie, The Red Badge of Courage, Conjure Woman, The Hermaphrodite, The Girl Who Shook the Hornet's Next, Emma, stopped listing them...

85.  Learn patience. This one might be a life long thing...

86.  Take a hunter’s safety course.

87.  Learn to play Clare de Lune on the piano. (5.16.09 started-failed :)

88.  Make a school plan – and start.  3.13.09

89.  Try one new ethnic recipe. (Chinese food)

90.  Learn to compose pictures for framing.  (6.09)

91.  Re-cover the dining room chairs.

92.  Learn a new craft technique.

93.  Refresh my water coloring skills.

94.  Watch a new sport.  (01.30.09 Hockey)

95.  Watch an opera.          

96.  Go to the ballet.

97.  Practice the piano at least once a week.

98.  Make one new recipe a month.

99.  Read a book that’s written in French.

100. Read the news (paper or internet) every day for a month.

101. Learn to love openly.  I think this one is also a life long work in progress.

 

 

i feel a little silly

disclaimer: after watching the whole movie as an adult, i realize that is not what one would consider quality content.  i just don't think i noticed most of it as the young naive high school girl that i was.  so watch with discretion (the clip below, however, is totally appropriate!). :)

about this post.  but i wanted to share one of my favorite songs from a movie with you. :)

i was making a playlist on youtube today while i was catching up on some office work and came across it.

seriously, it's embarrassing that I love this song.  but ever since high school, when i first saw this movie, i loved it.  

the movie

seriously, one of the best-worst movies ever.  and sadly and embarrassingly i love it.

the song

 

what is your favorite best-worst movie?

what songs do you love that i should add to my playlist?