Bloggy Break

July is turning out to be a pretty packed month for me. Between visitors and work travel there hasn't been much down time at home. I'll be going on a blog hiatus until August when I'm not traveling so much.

Until then here are some snapshots of what I've been up to.

One of the highlights of July was a wonderful visit from the lovely Emily Garrett. As always we had lots of fun together.

We tried some dragon fruit:

Spun wool into yarn:

Had a beach day:

Baked a pie with the BEST crust:

And had fun with friends on July 4th:

And yesterday I got to celebrate this guy turning a quarter century old:

That's it for now. See you in August!

Crock Pot Cookin'

Last Sunday was a day for trying a new dish. It was highly approved by both David and I, and we put it on our "make again" list. (Not an actual list, just one in our heads). 

Now, I don't want to sell this as the easiest crock pot recipe ever, because there is a step with the sauce after the initial cooking. However, the final step makes a rich, thick, sweet glaze come together. For the 5 minutes of stove time at the end I'd say its certainly worth it. 

I got the chicken recipe from the blog Six Sister's Stuff, they usually have pretty good stuff on there. 

I used the cook for 4 hours on high in the crock pot version, and I had chicken thighs. A slightly shorter cooking time might be better, or maybe 6 hours on low. The chicken was not dry but a little more time in the crock pot and it would have been, so use your discretion and don't keep the chicken in for too long. 

Does anyone have good tips on not letting crock pot meats get to dry? I often find that the cooking time is just a tiny bit too long. 

The chicken was served on a pile of brown rice (yay whole grains!) and David cooked up some frozen green beans that were from our garden. 

As I said, this one is definitely a keeper. If you don't like thick sweet glazes it might not be for you. My feelings about foods are generally the more sugar the better, so this recipe is making it into my regular rotation. 

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July everyone!

For me today will be filled with lots of friends, pies, burgers, and fireworks. I'm looking forward to learning all the festivities that will be going on in Plantation for the holiday.

Here is a picture of me, I think the night before the 4th a few years back.

Have a fun day, and don't forget to wear your red, white, and blue!

Revisiting my June Goals

I had three main goals for June.

Reading: Done. I read two books and am currently working on another. Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. I'm liking it so far. It's about women in the workplace. Candice recommended it, and our reading interests overlap by at least 85%, so any books she enjoys I'm likely to enjoy too.

Home Decorating: Great progress! I painted a table and two sets of drawers. My shoebox top belt organizer was finally decorated, and I started a throw pillow project. Not too shabby. I don't think this is a goal that is every truly complete. This month I certainly accomplished what I set out to do.

Knitting: Fail. Didn't knit. Looked at yarn, but didn't knit. I'm not officially setting this as a goal again. I will knit as I feel led. Since knitting is a hobby for me, I don't want to turn it into something I make myself do. I may knit a sweater tomorrow, I may not pick up needles for two months. We'll just have to see.

No major goals for July. Just hoping to get in at least a moderate amount of exercise between all the crazy travel I have this month.

Visiting Kelsey

A couple weekends ago I had the chance to visit a friend I met from my summer working with Heifer International in Arkansas. The group of friends from that summer was wonderful, and I still keep in touch with several of the girls. Kelsey lives in Florida so we were both excited that we would have the chance to visit each other while living in the same state.

During the summer is Arkansas Kelsey was always very happy, creative, and excited about anything. She hasn't changed a bit. Here is just one one example of her resourcefulness that summer:

Kelsey holding caulk, Mei holding the bamboo pole makeshift caulking gun. 

This is the boat that was being assembled in the previous picture.

Anyway...we did a lot in the short time I was able to visit. We explored her town, the beach, went to a few stores, played mini-golf, watched movies, and played with all of her craft supplies. 

Working on decorating a wooden initial

This is my latest project. 

The completed pillow in the background is one that I admired when I got to her apartment. Then Kelsey informed me that she made it herself. How cool is that? She had lots of different supplies and materials and there were enough scraps for me to cut out a pattern to make my own pillow cover. Currently I'm going through the slow process of stitching all of these on. So far, the pillow is really fun to make and this has probably opened up the world of sewing for me. I'm itching to get a machine and start on some projects. 

And because who doesn't love a good putt putt picture:

You even got a free bowl of ice cream with a game. Good deal. 

Me trying to look serious about my game