on my bedside table

There is a library just a couple blocks down from we live. It is one of the smallest libraries I have been in, it is also one of the cutest. The walls are painted a neutral sand color and simply decorated with quotes about books strategically placed on the walls of the library. I was pleasantly surprised that a library card is free and that they have a decent, up-to-date collection. But the best part about the library is that I can order books in from where ever and jaunt down the street to pick them up. 

Currently, on my bedside table or rather beside my bedside table, I have a stack of books that I am working through. Some are read while I am feeding Kilmeny, some are flipped through for inspiration and some are read a few minutes before bed. 

The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands  

She always wore Red

Ask SuperNanny

Ready, Set, Decorate! 

Decorating School 

The Survival Guide for Rookie Moms

  

And that pretty much sums up my reading interests and who I am. A wife, mom, and home-maker. I love my husband and my little girl so much and I love being able to be home and make it a haven for the three of us and whoever else enters. 

What's on your bedside table? I'm always open to book recommendations!  

And now I'm off to savor a cup of coffee and finish up some scrapbook pages while I wait for Jared to come home from the concert. I bought the coffee solely based on emotion. The blend is called Three Sisters and since I am one of three sisters, I bought that blend. Now before, you think I'm a total emotion-based person, I had to buy coffee beans and this blend just fit the bill. And my two sisters are together tonight so I'm drinking a cup in their honor. 

Enjoy your evening and savor the moments.   

Of moments and memories

Our bed is currently covered in all manner of scrapbooking supplies from paper to stamps to stickers and ribbons. The bedside table holds an album, my idea book, a glass of cold water and other normal bedside table adornments. 

This apartment is cute and artsy but it does lack certain things that would make life just a little easier. Things like a table. We eat our meals sitting on the couch, plates balanced on our knees. We use the computer desk to catch all those papers that seem to be always floating around. And I use the bed and bedside table to scrapbook on. It's all part of what makes life interesting. 

   I have discovered a new method of scrapbooking that works really well for me, here at this place. 

I do all my matching of paper with pictures and adornments at once. So I have all these little piles of 12x12 paper with 3 or 4 pictures, some stickers or stamps, maybe some ribbon and then I clean everything up until I want to assemble them page by page. It's all day affair as I fit it in amongst my other needful duties and delights.  It means that I only take everything  out once every couple of weeks. It means that I can easily transport a project to scrapbook with a friend, like I did earlier this week.  It also means that I can finish a page in a little window of time and hopefully get more scrapbooking done over the summer while still enjoying all the moments and memories of this time. 

And that to me is wonderful. 

of salads and wraps 

It has been hot here. I think you all knew that. I have been having great fun in the kitchen creating and making new recipes that don't involve turning on the stove or oven. At least for not long periods of time. We've been having a lot of salads for our dinners. I've come across some recipes that we both love. That means there is meat involved.

Our current favorites are Thai steak salad and Asian chicken and noodle salad. I admit I was drawn to them by the names, we both were. What can I say? They are both super easy, very tasty and filling. A plate of one of these is very satisfying. That would be a generous plate. The best thing about both of these recipes is that they can  be tweaked to your personal preference.

Our lunches often consist of a wrap or sandwich of some kind. However since my bread hasn't really turned out since we moved here, (I'm not sure if its the oven or the change in altitude or just what is, ideas are welcome!) we've been having more wraps then sandwiches. Growing up, I didn't care for wraps. Actually I didn't like them at all. I liked all the rest of my Mom's cooking! She's a great cook. :-) 

So it is only recently that I've delved into all things wrap-ish and I'm quite enjoying this delvement. I'm pretty sure that I just invented two new words there. ;-)

My favorite wrap would be fresh feta cheese, tomato, lettuce and Hungarian garlic sausage wrapped up in a sun-dried tomato and basil tortilla. Very yum. 

The wraps also make a great way to use up leftovers from the fridge or from last night's salad. I peruse the contents of the fridge, see what would go together (beans, rice, cheese and olives) and then put a topping on it (salsa and yoghurt), wrap it and serve. Inexpensive, healthy and no more little bits of stuff in the fridge. 

But sometimes you do need something that is familiar and warm. So that's why tonight's dinner menu is stir-fry over rice. Simple, tasty and familiar. 

What are your favorite summer meals?

 

sometimes you just have to dance 

The day was not going well. It was hot. Kilmeny was fussy. I was tired. It was only 10 am. I had to go to the store and get some chocolate for cookies, the only thing I needed to complete the recipe. I was going to sell the cookies in the afternoon. 

I didn't feel like doing anything. But I put one foot in front of the other and baked cookies, tried to cheer Kilmeny up and muster up a smile and cheerful spirit for when Jared came home. 

The cookies were done. I put some music on. I picked Kilmeny up. We danced on the hardwood floor. We both smiled. Then we both laughed. The music played on. The dishes were piled in the sink. The kitchen was hot from having the oven. Jared came home to a happy baby and happy wife. We all smiled. 

Sometimes you have to stop trying to get everything perfect and just dance. Sometimes I have to stop trying to be perfect and allow the truth of the songs to lift my heart to the Perfect One. Sometimes I have to cuddle my little daughter and treasure these moments with her. Sometimes I have to let everything go and smile because we're alive and we're together. 

Sometimes we just have to dance. 

    

photos: I looked through our picture folders to find a 'dancing' picture and came across these ones from our wedding, they worked. The top one is us and the bottom one is me with my sister's sister-in-law, got that? ;-)They are courtesy of Sarah Hainline, our candid photographer.

of pictures and people 

The heat has subsided! We woke up to the lovely sound of rain on our window and its been raining almost all day, raising the humidity level way up but the temperature has stayed in the early twenties so it's not that bad. I've been spending the time while Kilmeny sleeps to edit some pictures for her scrapbook and came across a lot of pictures to post. Most of them are from our visit to BC before we traveled East. Enjoy!  

Jared and I at Birch Bay. Love that place. I have so many memories of being there, I had to take Jared there. 

Us again. At Gary Point, in Steveston. One of my must-visits whenever I'm in Richmond. 

My Nana and I. The reason for visiting Richmond. 

I love her very much. She's a very special lady. 

Nana with her great-grandaughter and grandaughter. 

The other great reason for visiting Richmond. My dad's brother and his family live there! We had a wonderful visit with them. Uncle Crawf and Lindsey took us and Nana out for breakfast then the four of us walked around Steveston. Love these people! 

Lindsey and I at the Fisherman's Wharf. She has always been such a special cousin to me. She was in the middle of exams so our time together was short but very sweet. 

Then we had another awesome visit with Caleigh and Stephen and got ice-cream. I also love these people. A lot. 

We traveled a long ways just to get this shot of us at Lake Superior, MN, sort of. Some nice people snapped the moment for us. 

 We had a stop in Michigan and met up with these lovely people at Panera Bread. Aren't they cute? :-) We traveled the same route last year to shoot their wedding. We like them a lot.

We also had a stop with these wonderful people. My dear Green relatives. My grandparents just happened to be visiting them so we made a quick visit so they could meet their first great-grand daughter. And see us. We also stayed with Jared's relatives but we didn't get any pictures. Both of our Moms have a sister out in Ontario and they both live half an hour from each other. It makes visiting really fun! 

Grandpa and Gramma McCullough with their second grand daughter and first great grand daughter. Love these two! 

And now its time to get Kilmeny up and get ready for the best part of the day: Jared coming home! I hope you all have a lovely Friday!

Of Fans and Air-Conditioning 

Last night I had such a good sleep. Jared had such a good sleep. Kilmeny had such a good sleep. 

We all slept until 8 o'clock. And none of us woke up during the night.

We read an article that warned those people living in southern Ontario and Quebec that a heat wave is coming. I think it came already. Yesterday was hot. Every time I opened the fridge, I wanted to climb in and not come out for a week. Jared dropped Kilmeny and I off at the local pool on his way to a rehearsal and the baby and I spent a blissful hour splashing in the cool water. Kilmeny loved her first pool experience. She's a natural swimmer, strap a life jacket on her and she propelled herself around the pool. Put her on a flutter board and my flutter kicks got an extra workout. We stayed in the cool water right until the clock said 7:30 pm. I didn't get any pictures because can you imagine handling a baby and a camera at the pool? 

Jared set up an air-conditioning unit in the front window, an ingenious set-up, and it kept us cool all night long. That and the two fans we had going. I could hardly believe that it was actually 8am when I woke up, I'm used to getting up several times in the night and feeding a very awake baby around 5:30am. It was a refreshing sleep. 

The air-con unit will be going full steam ahead all night long, all summer long and the fans will continue to be on all the time. We have to choose between the computer and the air-con unit because of the placement of the outlets here. 

Tim Hortons has iced coffee and I have a husband who loves to surprise me by bringing the cold refreshment home. We have our ice cube trays in the freezer. I bake at night, with the door open. We drink a lot of water. All three of us. Kilmeny plays with water in measuring cups in her exersaucer and sucks on a damp cloth. And we remember being in Asia last year where it was like this all the time. 

And I embrace this summer. 

  

(photos: Coca-cola pictures from our trip: Thailand, Australia, Hawaii)

Kilmeny 

We had a wonderful time away. The visits with the relatives were relaxing and encouraging. Our aunts (and uncles and cousins!) are such special people. 

I took these pictures of Kilmeny while Jared was visiting a violin maker in Michigan. Isn't she a doll? :-)

The little doll also has been waking early so I'm making this a short and sweet post and going off to the land of Nod. 

Good-night!