Finally the Recipes

I had this party. It was cool. Then I blogged about it and said I would soon post the five new recipes I tried. Now... weeks later, I guess it's time to follow through. My best explanation is spring got busy. I think you know what that means.

Here’s the 5 new recipes from the evening…

Spinach Dip

I would make this again but I would not cook my own spinach and onions. I would buy a freezer pack of it. Lame, I know.

Get the recipe here.

Feta Brushetta

This was really good, only if you like feta.

Get the recipe here.

Chocolate Muffins

I thought the muffin part of the recipe would be a little less intense. They were yummy. I would gobble these at any Mother’s Day brunch.

Get the recipe here.

Old Fashioned Lemonade

We have a friend who has a little girl inside her belly. I was excited to try a special drink just for her.

Get the recipe here.

Sangria

What happens when you run out of wine for taste testing. Mix 1 bottle of white wine, 3 cans of Fresca, and frozen fruit. Cheers!

Get the recipe here.

Planning a party inspires me to try something new.

What is Home Awaits?

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What is Home Awaits?

It started out with a new passion of reading blogs mostly about family and home. Everyday stories lured me in. I fought for balance in my day to day. I’m a teacher, it’s easy to get consumed with my profession that I love and my desperately needy kids. Home Awaits was an outlet, a way to connect with people about my thoughts and hobbies. Frivolous… maybe… but I needed a balance. Sticking to my interests and my background, I knew “home”. Not just the noun but the verb.

I was blessed to grow up in a home that was full of love and beauty. I woke up Saturday mornings to my dad building some contraption out in the garage while my mom was doing laundry, washing windows, AND  baking blueberry lemon scones. Each season my mom rotated décor around the house displaying her gift of making things look right. Somehow these things rubbed off on me. My dad's ingenuity and my mom’s artistic eye.

Home Awaits may seem to be me anxiously waiting for a house to own or a mortgage to have. I shake this off…not true. Although I look forward to having a home, Home Awaits is a journey of defining my style and passion, while inspiring others to try, to do, despite what you've labeled yourself as. I don’t sew, I don’t cook, I don’t  care how high my curtains are. Be encouraged, feel challenged, that’s my goal.

Home Awaits is my art. I can’t do a lot of things but the little things I can do are fun when time is spent learning and being inspired. I usually blush when people talk to me about Home Awaits because it sometimes feels like my little secret, my little fantasy world. However, I am always encouraged by my readers when they comment both on-line and in person. Talk about making a girls day!

I thought it was time for me to define it more clearly so that I will be more confident in it. Home Awaits is a blog, my blog, about things relating to “HOME”. I hesitate to say home décor because I am not a player in THAT game. Something about the word “crafts” makes me cringe. (Maybe it’s because I think of Styrofoam balls and dorky projects.)  But I am learning about having a home, making a home despite a house, children, or nearby extended family. Home is what you make it, beautiful and full of love.

Home awaits. It will always await. It’s a process of new and old. Learning and growing in all ways.

Finding Me

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Vacations are good for many things. We recently returned from our SB2k12 trip. (Also known as Spring Break 2012) to Destin, Florida with some of our treasured friends from Indy. The most memorable times were the 38+ hours of listening to The Hunger Games, sleeping in the Target parking lot after we tried to get into our condo at 6 a.m. (don’t think the previous week stayers enjoyed the door being opened), dancing to “We are Young” at the Red Barn, and eating THE best of Destin. Life seemed to stand still for a week. Now that is a gift.  Among the days at the beach and the rainy days on the porch, I found myself engulfed with the depth of my life. Recent moments flashed in my thoughts as well as the days ahead.

While drinking rum punch and applying more sunscreen, my time was spent in deep thought, in deep prayer. Thanks to the book Bittersweet, which was recommended by my admirable friends Bri and Shana, it gave me a platform for this depth. The book talks about how life is at all times bitter but yet sweet.

 "This is what I've come to believe about change: it's good in the way that childbirth is good, and heartbreak is good, and failure is good. By that I mean that it's incredibly painful, exponentially more so if you fight it, and also that it has the potential to open you up, to open life up, to deliver you right into the palm of God's hand, which is where you wanted to be all along, except that you were too busy in pushing and pulling your life into exactly what you thought it should be."- Shauna Niequist

As I type, tears fill my eyes as our friends’ niece recently died at a young age. Fourteen months of pain ended. Life is bitter but yet sweet. Hour after hour. Story after story. Moment after moment.  Bitter yet sweet.

As my awareness of Bittersweet dwells in my thoughts, I cannot help but be grateful for my life. For my friends. For my family. Life is good when you’re in community and it’s hitting me hard.

I’m sure you’ll hear more about this book and how it’s directed my recent thoughts on life and home but I am thankful for a time to write. Thanks for following along, you are quite lovely!

(P.S..... SB2k12 pics will come eventually!)

Today We are Family

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Today we are it. As we celebrate Easter today, it marks a moment for us. The two of us. It’s one of the first holidays we are not with family.  As we filed into our seats at our overcrowded church, I realized just this. I told The Mr. of this feeling and he leaned close and said, “I am your family”.  My husband is wise, I’m thankful for him.

There were no traditions for us today but it made me appreciative of all those my parents have previously done for us. To those of you who live close to family, I hope you treasure today and are grateful for the convenience of a family meal, shared Easter services, and maybe even an Easter egg hunt. 

Happy Easter Friends!