Christmas in July

Yes I know it’s July, one thousand degrees outside and half the country is under a heat advisory, but I’m reminded of Christmas.

We have a massive garden. I love eating fresh, organic, food pulled right out of my own backyard. We have to look out for the chickens though. They love to hide in the plants, especially when they see us coming with the net. They know we can’t catch them and it’s like we’re stupid and they have fun toying with us. They stick their heads out just long enough so we can see them and then they disappear into the corn stalks; it’s like as if A Field of Dreams is happening in my backyard….Sorry, I digress.

My 2 favorites are fresh tomatoes and squash. Brandn will slice and coat the squash in butter then sprinkle with seasoning and throw it on the grill. My mouth is watering just typing these words. We have had such an abundance of veggies that we had entered the wonderful world of canning. We (and when I say “we” I really man Brandn does all the work and I stand behind him and say “I told you so” when he burns himself) have canned salsa, tomatoes and made pickles.

We opened the first jar of pickles the other day. Anticipation was in the air. If you have ever canned something you know what I’m talking about. Excited to see what it tastes like and a little nervous of the fact it could suck and you just wasted all that food and time. First bite here we go. I sat there for a minute thinking I have tasted this before even though this was the first time we, I mean Brandn, have made pickles. I was eating a pickle but was picturing pumpkin pie and warm cider in my mind. Why, these pickles taste like the holidays!!

I told Brandn and he said I was crazy. Then he tried one and kinda agreed. We looked at the pickling spices he used and Cloves were in there…I knew it! We now have 5.5 jars of Christmas pickles. Danica, our 5 year old, was cracking up saying we should put a bow on them and give them to our friends and shout “Happy Holidays!”  The salsa and tomatoes are excellent; the pickles, not so much. Brandn and Danica loved them. Good thing because if not, all our friends would be getting pickles for a Christmas present.

Thanks for allowing me to share my world with you….welcome to my brian.

Too Many Thoughts

I’ve slacked off on my blogging lately and for those of you that eagerly wake up each morning and check my blog to see what brilliantness I have posted since yesterday, I have let you down and I apologize.

I used to blog at my work; great work ethic, I know.  I got a new job 3 months ago and I actually have to work.  I’m in front of a computer all day and when I get home I don’t want to sit at the computer again to blog.  I have had a blog swimming around in my mind for a while but haven’t felt like pulling out the laptop and typing.  So, since it’s a 4 day weekend I decided to pull out the laptop.  To make this worth my time, I’m giving you a threefer so grab some chips and hummus and get comfy….

I’ve suffered loss and a lot of sadness this past month.  Not gonna go into it again but you can read that blog here.  I’m tired of crying.  I’m tired of the crazy, uncontrollable thoughts, I’m tired of being sad.  Well today; I discovered something that knocked me on my butt, again.  Brace yourself….just typing it breaks my heart.

Bath and Body Works is discontinuing Sun-Ripened Raspberry! I know!!!!  This is a flavor of my childhood, yes I said “flavor.”  Bath and Body Works came to my town when I was on jr high and EVERYONE wore it and Country Apple.  I was so sick of them at the time, but I’m over it now, I have moved on and I love them again.  I was at the store and the sales chick told me they were discontinuing it.  I stood there shocked.  It took several minutes for her words to wash over me and to comprehend what she was saying.  So I did what any sane person would do; I stocked up.  I have 2 bottles of body was and 1 bottle of body cream that I will have to ration; only pull out for special occasions.  Funny note: The computer keeps auto correcting “raspberry” for me.  I am 32 and have a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and I never realized there is a “P” in raspberry….epic failure!

We have chickens!  The inner hippie just keep growing within me.  We let Danica, our 5 year old daughter, name them:  Fluffy, Chick-Fil-A, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  The last 3 are Bible dudes.  Read about how God saved them from a fiery death here.  We had the chickens and our 2 dogs, one of which is a bird dog, in the same back yard.  Well needless to say, after an unfortunate event, we were down to Chick-Fil-A.  Brandn had to break the news to Danica; her response?  A meltdown and “I’m too sad to eat or sleep and I won’t play with Daisy today or tomorrow.”  We are now on round 2 of chickens: Chick-Fil-A, Fluffly 2, Chirp, Peep and Chicken Nuget.  Brandn has re-enforced the coop and has segregated the back yard; he put a fence down the middle and we now have a “dog side” and a “chicken side.”

I love Jen Hatmaker!  I have blogged about her and her books before.  Her last 2 books have smacked me across the face; they’re the kind of books that after you read them, you are changed.  After reading 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess, I yelled at Brandn for burning pancakes and pulled them out of the trash and yes, I ate them.  (I live in Round Rock, the city suburb north of Austin and she lives in Buda, the suburb south of Austin.  When we were looking for houses, Brandn banned us from buying a house in Buda because he knew I would stock her.)  She is a church planter, pastor’s wife, a women’s conference speaker, a mother of 5 (3 biological and 2 adopted) and a ridiculous woman of God!  She also blogged about being on the Today’s Show recently and confessed she forgot to pack underwear and went on the show comando…gotta lover her!

Thanks for allowing me to share my world with you…..welcome to my brain.