August 2015

How was your summer?! Ours is at 100 degrees and no rain. For which Brad and Matthew are thankful for the time being as Dad has his roof off and Matthew and I are staining our deck!

Here's some things that happened in August:

This is smashed banana and almond butter. You know the goos, gels, energy bars, etc. that runners use? Well, I can't have most of those because of my food allergies. Vanessa suggested this combination. I put it in a snack size zip baggie. Lucy was along with me that day. Her bike has a nice basket which makes a great personal mobile aid station! When I want my snack, I bit off a tiny corner of the baggie and squeezed it out! I probably won't use the combination of food again, but the concept was great!
One of Matthew's artistic pictures!Tritip and zucchini on the grill! One of our favorite summer dinners!Brad and Vanessa's computer needed a storage update, so Matthew told them what parts to order. We went over there one Saturday so he could install the stuff. It was very interesting watching him work! Taking off the screen was really neat! Those things don't look like they can come apart, but they do.This was the East Cuesta Grade Fire. Over 12 days it burned more than 2,400 acres. Santa Margarita was evacuated for a short period of time. A younger friend told me that looking out of her school room window, she can see where the fire came down a hill 1/2 a mile from town, and then turned and went back up. Everyone was thankful for safety and that it didn't burn much more than grass and trees. Now, hearing about the fires up north that are causing tons of damage, we are doubly thankful!One day I got to visit with Coral and Bodie and hold Aubrey! It is fun to hold her and Brianna Stevens and think that Evelyn is just a bit bigger and older than they are.The praying mantis are out in full force! A few days ago, Dad saw one catch a bug. I don't care for insects and spiders and bugs and such of the creepy, crawly world, but it is fascinating! The huge variety (over 900,000) is amazing. Each of those are different in some way. They catch their food differently, colors, size..etc.Chicken broth here we come! I do love making some good broth! It makes me feel very housewifey:)
One Friday evening we had sing on top of Pine Mountain! We all trekked up there from Shane and Reanne's. It was a fun idea, and as I stood there looking out over the darkening valley, the oaks, the lights coming on, the moon, the stars, the mountains in the distance, the fog rolling in from the beach on the other side of them illumined by the last of the sunset, it overwhelmed me. Thinking about all those people and the creation, God knows about it all. But, while He is so mighty, He is personal. He has made it possible for me to have a relationship with Him. He is stitching on the tapestry of each of our lives. It might not always look pretty to me, but looking out over that scene, I know I can trust The Artist!

The few that stayed behind were able to hear us from Shane and Reanne's back deck. We are planning on doing it again this Friday (September 25th) at 6:45 hiking from Stadium Park. We are looking forward to an even bigger crowd and meeting lots of people as many are inviting coworkers, neighbors, school friends, and whoever wants to come!The Saturday after the guys finished working on our deck, we were anxious to clean out the garage. But..come to find out, they weren't finished that part yet:( So Matthew had the great idea of laying down paving bricks where we keep our trash bins. He did a nice job and it was fun working together. The bins are a lot easier to roll in and out now!
One Wednesday morning, Mom was going to have a craft/project day for the family ladies. Unfortunately she had to cancel last minute, at the same time I found out that I didn't have to do my cleaning job that day! So I had Cherisa, Hailey, Grandma Pauls, and Aunt Pam over. Grandma and Cherisa are putting together a really cute applique quilt. Aunt Pam was editing pictures and watching the hummingbirds at my feeder! Other than a bit of mending and a few other things, I got to play with Hailey! Everyone left after a potluck lunch of salads.I found that the new deck is a great morning exercise spot!One of my free days was supposed to be really hot. Cherisa gladly agreed to go to the beach with me to escape their stuffy trailer for awhile. Hailey and I had fun digging in the sand and splashing in the water together. I was laying on my stomach on the blanket when she came over and laid down next to me just like I was! It was so cute! She thought she was big stuff, jabbering away to me propped up on her elbows clasping her hands!
Since doing Paleo (for the majority of our diet) I've been trying lots of new recipes! This one was a ground beef mixture stuffed into mini bell peppers. It was quite delicious.

One of my non-paleo but healthy breakfasts! Oatmeal with ground flax, hemp, sunflower seeds, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, peaches, and honey. It tastes like peach cobbler!
Well, I was posting away there and realized that I was into September. Seeing as this post is long enough, we'll save that for later! Thank you for being interested in our lives for another month!

I still feel a little not-right about blogging. It seems very self-centered. Also, even though I don't try, sharing life in this form can come across as it is all perfect, happy, got it all together, have no problems, etc. Because you aren't seeing the bad attitudes, the differing opinions, the half awake mornings, the sour days, the grumpy periods, the messy kitchen, the dirty laundry, the office stress...etc. But I want you to know that while we are a happy couple, we are quite normal. Discouragingly normal! We just want to grow together, share the good and bad in life, learn to love each other more, and through it all, have God in the center.

Thank you~