Momorial Day

My mom was sick on Mother's day, so we hosted Momorial Day on Sunday - a celebration of all things Mom with a side of Americana.

Penelope dressed up for the occasion (of course).

 

We had a BBQ bash with lots of red, white and blue. Jake grilled sliders and I made all of the fixings.

We got a baby pool for Addie, which she insisted on skinny dipping in for most of the day. This is the only photo I could find of her partially clothed. I wish that I could share the one of her streaking through the backyard while Penny chased her and licked water off of her, but I am afraid that someone might call child protective services on my family.

Did you do anything special over the holiday weekend?

The Tallest Tree

 

This past week, I drove up the east coast with my parents to Syracuse, N.Y. to visit my grandma as she underwent chemotherapy. 

Our trip was peppered with reminders of how much our family has changed in recent years. Some of our most sharp and quick-witted family members moved at a slower pace. Loved ones that once were at the top of our list to visit, were no longer there. It seemed at every turn, was a reminder to not take my youth, health or life for granted.

My parents both grew up in Syracuse, but my family moved away when I was nine - so, most of my memories there are from my early childhood. After visiting my grandpa in the nursing home, my mom took me for a drive past the house that we lived in when I was born.

My mom seemed taken aback when she saw the large plum tree that engrossed the entire front of my parent's first home together, "I just remembered - we planted that tree when you were born. Dad and I both talked about bringing you back here someday to see how much it had grown".

This trip was a clear example for me of the brevity of life and the mark that time leaves on each of us as we age. Yet, I found comfort there, staring up at that sprawling plum tree...  Even during the toughest times (perhaps, especially during hardships) there is always opportunity for growth.

Recipe: Cilantro Lime Salmon

Last week we had take-out or microwaveable food for dinner every single night (please make me feel better and tell me that I am not the only person who has done this). I felt gross and borderline neglectful of my husband.

In an effort to ensure that this doesn't happen again any time soon, I've been working on adding easy dishes that both of us enjoy to my meal time repertoire.

This dish takes about 20 minutes to make - oh yeah, and it's healthy and flavorful - triple whammy!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb salmon fillet cut in half (serves 2-3)
• Salt & pepper
• Juice and zest from 3 limes
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• A dash of Cumin
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Generously season salmon with salt and pepper, add a dash of cumin and half of the lime zest. Arrange salmon in a shallow baking pan.  Roast until salmon is flaky, about 10 to 13 minutes. Use a flat spatula to remove fillets.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, soy sauce, and sugar; fold in cilantro and lime zest. Spoon sauce over fish.

I served mine with a roasted sesame asparagus - I'll share that recipe here soon.

Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, it's a new staple in our house!

 Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart Food*

A Sunday Evening

Let's all take a minute to escape reality. Press play, it helps to ease the Monday blues.

Forget about Monday, right now we're on a Sunday drive together - speeding down an old country road. Windows open, a warm Southern wind in our hair, The Rolling Stones booming from the car stereo.

This is precisely where Jake and I found ourselves yesterday. After a weekend of hard work, we stole a moment to drift off into Sunday bliss.

 

 In a state as beautiful as ours, gems like this are around every corner. I grabbed my camera and crouched on the side of the road, hoping to snap a few photos while there was still daylight.

 

 For a moment, I was lost there - in that field of yellow - taken aback by the beauty of those majestic animals. Horses will forever remind me of my hometown, just outside of Saratoga Springs, New York, where warm weather signaled the start of track season.

Eventually, I was snapped back into reality... Time to get home and finish some last minute chores before the weekend was over (waah!). 

I can't help but feel grateful on this Monday morning, that Sunday evenings exist.

The Things that Keep Us Up at Night

So much is weighing on my mind lately. I wake up in the middle of the night - fists and jaw tightly clenched. This is when I visualize my happy place. A moment in time when everything was in its right place.

I find myself in Hawaii at dusk on the beach with my brand new husband. Sunburns radiating heat, snarly salty hair from a day of swimming in the ocean. Stomachs full from gorging ourselves on shrimp tacos and shaved ice. We sit perched on a stone wall watching the sun set over surfers trying to catch a last wave before nightfall. 

So much uncertainty stretched out before us.

I go there in my mind from time to time. I imagine us returning someday. Wrinkled hands holding each others' in an old familiar way. Laughing to ourselves about all of the worrying that we did. 

How funny, we thought that we could control the things that kept us up at night.

An Explanation

You may have noticed that I've been a little scarce around this place. I'm not going to pile on the excuses, please just know that I have missed sharing myself here.

I've made a conscious effort to maintain this blog as a positive outlet, and not just one more task to add to the list. Some things have come up that may require my posting to be less frequent - but I promise to stop in whenever life permits.

Today, I will be playing nurse to Penelope. She is getting spayed this morning, poor girl. I have to be honest, my stomach is in knots just thinking about her.

If praying is your thing, please send one up for Miss Penny.

First Anniversary

Jake and I celebrated our first anniversary at a nearby winery. I packed a special picnic to enjoy together after wine tasting.

Sitting beneath a tree in the warm North Carolina sun, we talked about the highs and lows of our first year of marriage. Both of us agreed on the things that we want to work on changing together. We imagined where we would be in our lives for our fifth, tenth and fiftieth wedding anniversaries. 

If life ends up looking at all like we imagined, we are in for one incredible journey together.