He is the vine; we are the branches!

On this day of rest and worship, rejoice in the fact that as a child of God, you are a branch of the vine of Christ. He creates these fruits in your life:

Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-control
Galatians 5:22-23

Take joy in this today, friends!

always learning: amateur photo editing

I've recently discovered PicMonkey--a free photo editing site that's perfect for a novice like me.  I can add text, do some basic editing, add fun effects, and it doesn't cost a thing!  I've been having fun playing around with it, and am pleased with the results.

Just for fun, I thought I'd show a before and after (the photo was taken about three years ago by my friend Rachel Ahlers).  Granted, the original photo is fantastic--Rachel is extremely talented and has a wonderful camera besides!  The original photo had a foot in the background, was a little dark, and I discovered that I could increase the 'warmth' of the photo plus make my teeth whiter-- that was fun. :)

BEFORE:

AFTER:

No more foot, warmer colors, and whiter teeth.  I'm pretty pleased!

Have you used PicMonkey?  Are you one of those people I wish I could be who has fancy photo editing software and an amazing camera and takes incredible pictures?  (I don't hate you, I just wish I had that talent!)

By the way, PicMonkey doesn't even know I wrote this post; it's not sponsored or anything.  I just thought I'd share something fun!

Thankful Thursday: two special people

Today I am incredibly thankful for two very special people.

One of them is my husband, who wrote a fantastic guest post yesterday (thanks baby!).  We both really appreciate all the encouraging comments that have been left; it meant so much!!  Also, I am SUPER-DUPER proud of him because he is doing great at work.  I'm thankful for how hard he works to support us.

Plus, he is just the funniest, sweetest, handsomest, most thoughtful and most overall amazing guy I know.  I just love him so much.

(this picture was taken by a nine-year-old.  I love how it captures his personality!)

I am also ridiculously thankful for this girl!!  This is my stunning friend Sara, who is so much like me it's kind of scary sometimes.  She showed up last night for a surprise, two-night visit, which she's been plotting with the guy pictured above for over two weeks.  It's bliss.  Today we had a girls' day: we gave each other massages, played with each other's hair, gave each other pedicures (ah, foot massages!) and she even let me do her makeup!  Plus we watched Sense and Sensibility, one of our favorite girly romance movies.

PLUS she's been helping me with cooking and dishes and we've had time to talk about everything under the sun.  I cannot believe how much of a blessing she is in my life.  This kind of friend doesn't come along very often, but I am so glad God put us together!!

I'm thankful for a lot of things, but right now I'm overwhelmed by the blessing of these two wonderful people sitting in my living room with me.  Thank you God!!!


Linking up with lots of really great ladies:

Twenty-one!

That's the number of years that this man has been alive:

 I am so thankful for him.  We've made so many incredible memories already, and it's only been two years.  I can't wait to see what the coming years will hold.

This is a man who is funny.  Wise.  Smart.  Handsome.  Kind.  Generous.  Gentle.  Loving.  Faithful.

He is a loving and respectful son, a kind brother, a devoted and faithful husband.

He is a witness to the love and mercy of God.

He displays a strong, humble faith in his Savior.

He is a hard, responsible worker.

He is a generous and devoted friend.

I am so glad that God brought Joshua into the world, into this family, twenty-one years ago today.

He has been a blessing to us and so many others, and I know God will continue to be a blessing through him.

I love you, my Joshua.  Happy Birthday!!

Enjoying the Fruits of the Season!

I got more wonderful produce at Lisa's the other day.  It was so exciting to have garden-fresh produce!  I made what I decided to call "Garlic Chicken Pasta with Fresh Summer Vegetables". :)

Boil some pasta.  Mix in a pan about 1/4 cup olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and a little parmesan cheese.  Add 1-2 cups of cooked chicken and stir to coat in the garlic-infused oil.

Meanwhile, thinly slice one small yellow squash, and cut in half about 12 cherry tomatoes.

When pasta is fully cooked, place sliced squash in colander and pour pasta and hot water over squash.  Drain squash and pasta and place in serving bowl.

Add tomatoes and snip, cutting into small pieces, six fresh basil leaves.

Add chicken and toss to mix.  Sprinkle with some more parmesan or mozzarella and serve!

Gratefulness this Week

I'm thankful for my hubby, and for the time we'll get to spend together this weekend!!  (This was a date night a couple weeks ago, and that is sparkling grape juice in our glasses. :) )

Thankful for this beautiful woman and the fact that she's coming to visit this weekend!!!!  (This picture is from a "Prom Alternative" event with her church, our senior year in high school. :) )

Thankful for God's power, majesty and artistry.  (This is the sky after a storm a few days ago.)

Thankful for beauty, living things, and the kindness of an elderly flower-growing friend at church.  (These flowers have graced our house all week!)

Thankful for the Lord's providence--such good food!!  (Homemade bread and white cranberry-cheddar cheese, YUM)

(One almost-bad banana into half a dozen AMAZING banana muffins!)

Oh, the Lord is good to me
And so I thank the Lord
For giving me
The things I need
The sun and the rain and the appleseed.
The Lord is good to me!
(-the "Johnny Appleseed Song")



Linking up to black tag diaries for Thankful Thursdays

Blackberries and Friendship

I spent Monday afternoon with my lovely friend Lisa at her farm home.  The farm itself is run by others, but Lisa has a huge, wonderful garden, with tomato plants nearly as tall as I am, a squash patch the size of my living room, fragrant herbs and flowers, and a blackberry bush dripping with berries and buzzing with grasshoppers.  I came over wanting to help do something, so we picked blackberries to make into jam.

Lisa had picked these berries over the course of a few previous days.  They had been frozen and thawed, and now it was time for them to cook.

I helped my mother make strawberry jam when I was younger, but it's been a while.  For jam-making, you need a canning kit, tons and tons of sugar (or at least two ten-pound bags), and canning jars that are at least two generations old, used by the lady who lived in the house before you, and other jars that were your mother and grandmother's.

You need LOTS of sugar.  But it's just plain sugar.  No preservatives.  Not even pectin.  This jam is berries and sugar.

The jars have to be sterilized, in hot water, in the biggest pot I've ever seen.

While you wait for the berries to cook down, you take pictures of other produce from the garden.

Lovely, delicious, sweet-smelling basil!!

Tomatoes that taste like sunshine

Hot peppers, a green tomato to ripen, a cucumber

Next you take a picture of your beautiful hostess stirring the berries.  And you lament that you can't stay long enough to help finish the jam.  But you both laugh about how you will have very similar blog posts about today.  (See that steam?  That's a farmgirl facial.)

But first you stir while she pours the sugar and you both take pictures with your free hands.  You laugh some more about how people will wonder how you did this.  "Does she have three hands?  One to pour, one to stir, one to take the picture?"

Berries + sugar = jam.  In about an hour.

You take berries home and eat them with homemade granola and yogurt for breakfast the next day.  You thank God for making berries and for making Lisa.

An Original Recipe!

Remember when I was going on about a really delicious pasta salad, partially from a box, partially homemade?  I decided I wanted to come up with an original recipe for a similar salad, myself.  So I did!  I'm just calling it "Italian Pasta Salad" unless anyone can come up with a more interesting name.  But the flavors are very Italian.  I'm thrilled with how it turned out.  If you try it, let me know what you think!!

Ingredients:

8 oz Rotelle pasta (the medium-sized twisty ones)

1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 medium tomato, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 cup cubed cheese (Swiss, provolone or mozzarella)

The dressing

1/4 c sweet onion, finely minced

1/4 c EACH olive oil and red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp garlic (powder or minced)

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp basil

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 c finely shredded Parmesan cheese (NOT the powdered stuff from the can!)

1/4 c finely shredded Asiago cheese (if you don't have this cheese you can just use 1/2 cup Parmesan)

Directions

1. Boil pasta according to package directions, in a 6-quart saucepan about half full of water.  Meanwhile, start cutting up vegetables.

2. When pasta is cooked to "al dente" (not crunchy but not mushy; it should have a "bite"), drain and rinse with cold water until room temperature or cooler.

Finish cutting vegetables.  :)  The best way to seed the cucumber is to slice in half crosswise (you'll only use about half a medium cucumber), slice in half crosswise, and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds.  Leaving the seeds in will make the salad more watery.

3. Finely mince onion.  You can use a knife, but I prefer my nifty Pampered Chef food chopper.  It can be used for a variety of things, but I always use it for onions because then I don't have to touch them and risk touching my eyes with onion juice!

Plus it's a quick way to get the onions very finely minced, which is what you want for the dressing.

4. In a bowl, combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, minced onion, garlic, oregano, basil, salt and pepper.

It will smell delicious.  Then mix in the shredded cheeses, Parmesan and Asiago.

5.  Add the cooled pasta, tomato, cucumber, and diced cheese.  Toss to coat evenly with the dressing.  Chill before serving, or just use your stirring spoon to eat half of it right away.  (That's what I usually do!)

It's beautiful, fresh, tasty, AND good for you! :)