summer pasta salad

Tonight was one of those "what will I make for dinner? I have nothing in the house!" sort of nights. This wouldn't happen if I bothered to do weekly meal plans, but... that's one area of my life I have yet to schedule. Perhaps I'll try it soon. I do see how it could be beneficial to both our budget and my sanity.

However, this spur-of-the-moment supper planning makes for some creative meals!

Here's my made-up recipe for a summery pasta salad (serving about 4 people):

1 cooked chicken breast
3/4 c. tri-color penne pasta (tri-color pasta is absolutely required, says the hubby)
1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (or Parmesan cheese)
1 c. frozen peas, uncooked
1 whole carrot, sliced into thin discs

Optional ingredients:
10 black olives, sliced
1/4 c. red onion
1/2 c. chopped green peppers
1/4 c. sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 c. walnuts
1/4 c. raisins
mix it up, friends! Add what you like. The dinner is your oyster. Oooo! add shrimp!

Italian dressing to taste (or basil pesto - that would be good. or any other dressing you like. Or just some olive oil and spices - maybe some red pepper? curry?)

1. Bake/boil/fry/otherwise cook the chicken, or use left overs. This is how I roll. Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.
2. Cook pasta according to the package directions, adding 1/2 tsp. salt to the water.
3. Meanwhile, slice the carrot. Find a large serving bowl, and dump the carrot in.
4. Root through the freezer for the peas. Measure 1 cup of them, and dump them in the bowl with the carrots.
5. Add 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar to the serving bowl.
6. Slice whole black olives and add those to the mix.
7. Test the pasta for doneness, and then put it in a colander. Rinse with cold water until the pasta is no longer warm.
8. Add the pasta and chicken to the serving bowl. Stir to combine.
9. Add Italian dressing - about 2 T, or as much/little as you'd like to the pasta combo.
10. EAT!

This is the after-we-ate-all-we-wanted shot. Lots left over! Yay!

hazy summer days.

I need to make these! And in other news...

I'm loving the summer weather - being able to hang out with my hubby, enjoy the freedom to rest, and the time to do the crafts/cooking/baking I've been planning!

This past weekend, we took a trip to a beach on Lake Erie. I wasn't expecting much, since it's a lake beach - you know, stones, cold water, not-so-attractive swimming conditions - but it was great! The sand was mostly soft, and there was a bank of smooth pebbles leading into the lake water. It was a lovely 70 degrees outside, with a breeze, and the water was warm! and shallow! It was so wonderful to just relax all day. Peaceful waves, seagulls, colorful umbrellas, my hubby and family right there, a couple magazines...

I picked up some sea glass (pieces of broken glassware, tumbled smooth by the lake), got slightly burned shoulders, and enjoyed my new swimsuit and coverup. Thankful for a joyful time together! Perhaps we'll make another trip soon!

today's creative hours

I realized that I'll be rather busy this summer, and I took the time today to make the greeting cards I needed for the rest of the summer (yay for saving some cash and being creative). Three anniversary cards and four birthday cards later, here are the results:
All of the cards use origami paper. Some use textured cardstock, cut with decorative edges. I used gold poster paint to embellish some, and added floral die-cuts and brads for dimension. A few also use glittery sticker letters. I love how they turned out!

kittens

Kittens are some of the cutest things in the world! Clara belongs to our friends, Doug and Jennifer. She's a pretty cat, and sweet. Her five kittens are adorable:





The orange one is too cute - wanting to snuggle with his siblings, and cuddling with mama Clara.

Exploring their very big world with their little whiskers and tiny paws...and back legs that don't quite work yet!

love summer

Ahhh! It finally feels like summer!

We've had a few really warm days and non-stop sunshine. I love it! The windows are open, my flowers are blooming, and my husband and I finally have an extended amount of time to spend together. So thankful.

Today, I'm having tea with a friend, and then I'm going to another friend's house for swimming and shopping - it feels like a childhood summer!

Growing up, I lived in a little brick house in a small town. There was a front porch with a glider swing, a tiny detached garage, and my bedroom with pink carpet and light yellow floral wallpaper. The backyard was huge, and it looked like it extended into forever-big cornfields. My siblings and I would play on our metal swingset and imagine all sorts of things - trips to Africa, re-enacting Red Riding Hood, pretending we were the emergency rescue squad (when the town's daily siren went off, of course), playing circus with the little trapeze, taking the kitties with us down the slide. The backyard was the place where I'd drag my pink "Beauty and the Beast" towel, favorite Little House book, and lemonade, where I'd make dandelion braids, and where my brothers and I would play "Hebrew slaves" and make mud bricks. It was where we discovered birds' eggs and mouse nests, where I collected flowers for mommy, and where we raked big piles of leaves. It was where we planted "bikinis" (zucchini), peas, and corn.

When that big field of corn was cut for the late-summer harvest, I would walk across the (seemingly huge) field to my friends' houses - Alicia, and Bekah. They were a little older than me, but that made it more fun. Alicia and I would paint our nails, and Bekah would show me cool things around her family's farm.

I remember visiting the small town library for the summer reading program, and getting my very own library card. Those were carefree days...

...and I have a tiny glimpse of that today. Thankful!

pretty weeds: a haiku

balloon-like white globes

fuzzy featherweight seedlings

common beauty: weeds

a possibility

i applied for a K-5 Vocal Music and General Music position on Friday! i'm excited that there's the possibility of a music education job out there for me. i'm hoping and praying that i will be called to interview. i'm a little bit apprehensive, since i haven't taught at the K-3 level before, but i think i'll be able to do well with some help from my colleagues, a curriculum, and some extra study during the summer (for me, that is). it looks like a good opportunity for me to build some more confidence in my teaching, to have some more experience to put on my resume, and for a lot more money than i'm making right now!

it has been tough to stay with the job i'm in now - a lot of the work takes very little brain function to perform well. the flow of work is also tricky. some days there is absolutely nothing for me to do but answer the phone and greet people when, or if, they walk into the office. other days, there is so much to get done that i can't possibly finish it all in one day! dealing with realtors can be frustrating, too. some of them get so worked up about the smallest details, which reminds me of myself when i finally get home from work, i'm tired, and i can hardly deal with life. it has been good to be the one to encourage them, but hard to see adults acting like this. is it normal for someone to get screaming mad when the fax machine copies instead of faxes? or to completely abandon a project when the copy machine jams 3 times in a row? or to yell at me for naming their pictures the wrong thing when they didn't send me labels for them at all?

you see what i mean.

the environment has also been eye-opening for me. i come from a very conservative background, but here, i am surrounded by liberal thought. this is too much "real world" for me.
as you can read from the previous post, i'm a little shell-shocked, as I believe i should be.

happier note, though:

i have been reading C.S. Lewis's book, Surprised by Joy, which he wrote as an autobiography. the book chronicles the moments in his life as he lost his faith in childhood, took up atheism, discovered Joy in his adolescence, and found the truth of Christianity by his adult years. it's so enjoyable to read his writing and to think along with him (if you can call it that, since he's dead now, and since it's the written word) about the things that bring us joy, and what we truly desire in life. sigh.

this past weekend was absolutely beautiful, and such a blessing! i woke up saturday morning feeling like it was a vacation (well, plus laundry and some housecleaning), with sunny, light-filled rooms, and warm breezes. so nice. my dear husband and i even took a picnic down to the lake and enjoyed being quiet with each other there. i took a few pictures, which i hope to post soon. we needed the break - i'm so glad we could be with each other.

sunday, i finally got to practice piano! it has been months, and i'm really sad about that. i've lost some of my skill, but i think i can get it back with some more practice. and time. and diligence. i really hope i can be more consistent about the whole thing.

and with that, i'm going to go back to work. meaning, i'm going to try to find something to do until 6.

maybe i'll make a salad. :o)

today i'm finding things to be thankful for. at the moment, i'm so happy to have had a hot shower, a hairdryer that works, tasty leftovers for lunch, and a great computer. the colors of fall are so vibrant - i love that! i'm enjoying the feeling of fuzzy sweaters, and feeling thankful for the last few wildflowers of summer. i just got a call from my husband - just to say that he loves me. earlier today i had an invitation to go shopping with a new friend, and i can't wait!
these are today's blessings.
and here's a link to my flickr page - i love taking photos! http://www.flickr.com/photos/from_linnea/