Four Years.

"He was my future husband, of that I was scarily certain, although I knew nothing more about him than that. It would become my repeated resolution to keep it that way. To know nearly nothing of him, and to expect nothing, for the long life of our marriage.

When we think we know someone, you see, we are already halfway to disappointment, and no one needs a head start on that.

This is not how we have learned to choose our partners, is it? This is not how we greet people, is it? With an open mind? With an eager hand? Like an unopened gift? Not when we make a life's work out of finding and keeping the perfect mate, the ideal match for our economic aspirations, political views, religious preference, height, weight, taste in coffee, and wardrobe sensibility - all ways we foolishly seek in another mere validation for ourselves. When we believe we know what's good for us, what's right, and what we're looking for - and believe me, we all do - we condemn all our current relationships and doom the ones to come."

                   - from Hand Wash Cold by Karen Maezen Miller 

Recipe for Mushroom Soup.

My Sissy was asking about this recipe. So I thought I would post it again. This may be the most consistently delicious thing I make. 

It takes about 30 minutes to prep and make and is a very doable week-day meal. Here are the ingredients I used in this particular batch...

1 yellow onion
1 shallot
1 pint of shiitake mushrooms
1 pint of baby bella mushrooms
3 shot glasses of Golden Dry Sherry
splash of lemon juice
handful of thyme
4ish tablespoons of flour
1/2 pint of cream
4 cups of water
pinch of sea salt
pinch of pepper

1. Saute onions and shallots in butter with a bit of thyme until they are transparent.

2. Add mushrooms. Sprinkle in some more thyme, a shot glass of sherry and a splash of lemon juice. Cook until mushrooms start shrinking (4-6 minutes).

3. SLOWLY start sprinkling in flour. Stir rigorously until you can't see any flour. Sprinkle more. Repeat procedure until there is a decent thick paste (probably about 4 tablespoons).

4. Add cream, water, salt, pepper, some more thyme (if you like) and the rest of the sherry. Bring to a boil and then immediately put it on simmer for at least an hour (this batch I kept simmering for 2 hours).

Remember soup ALWAYS tastes better the next day....but this is pretty decent immediately (especially if you simmer it for a while). Happy Soup-Makin'!

5 of My Favorite Pregnancy Posts.

Wow. 

I was just looking back though some of my photos from my last pregnancy.

I didn't realize just how much my belly grew.

The human body is just so amazing.

I haven't done a Pregnancy Post in the last few months, so here are some Oldies but Goodies.


1. A Goddess, A Cow and A Cat

2. Perineal Massage

3. Eating Dates and Shorter Labor Times (seriously do it...all I know is that I went from having a 20 hour Labor with Kid #1 and a 5 hour Labor with Kid #2.)

4. Dealing with Heartburn During Pregnancy

5. My Post-Partum Physical Self-Care Check-list (I ended up doing most of these. It was a lot of getting everything ready before and keeping up with it BUT so worth it. I healed up SO MUCH faster than the first time.)

Underwear.

My 15-month-old loves to play with several items.

Keys.

Shoes.

And, her Sissher's underwear.

Anala Bears has spent AN HOUR straight quietly going though Nye-Nye's clean underwear basket. Patiently trying to put the undies on OVER her diaper. Once she has accomplished that task, then she likes to wear the rest as bracelets.

Sometimes she likes to wear them on her head.

I love this girl.

Faces.

Faces.

All of a sudden, out of the blue (at least it appeared that way to me), my 3-year-old started drawing faces.

I never showed her how to draw one and no one had (to my knowledge), so I was pretty blown away when she drew this one day, a few weeks ago....

Bodies and arms and recognizable faces. Pretty cool. Yesterday, she drew these faces with some pastels I got out for her.

She made sure to point out the eyelashes.

Renfrew Museum and Park. Day Trip.

Last week, my parents took us to Renfrew Museum and Park. It's located in Waynesboro, PA and although, I grew up 20 miles away, I had never heard about it.

Boy, have I been missing out!

Renfrew is a terrific example of a Pennsylvanian German Farmstead on about 100 acres. 

It's a gorgeous location with an amazing Heritage Garden (with numerous Heirloom vareties and TONS of Herbs) and LOTS of space for the girls to run around. They do a fantastic job with the upkeep of all the homestead buildings and the grounds. There are a handful of nice trails throughout the property.

We went on a stormy day and we weren't able to play in the beautiful Creek or take a house tour. We will definitely becoming back.

On September 6th, they will be having a Heritage Day complete with a Conestoga Wagon!

You can learn more about Renfrew here.

North Beach, MD. Day Trip.

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted.

We've been soaking up as much Summer as we can.

Lots of Gardening.

And, honestly, I've been a bit worn out from all the referring I've been doing. The girls adore each other, but they squabble A LOT. Nye-Nye starts Pre-school soon, so it will be interesting to see how that changes the dynamics between the girls.

No large Vacation for this Summer, instead we've had several Little Adventures.

North Beach was one of them.

Neither Papa Bear and I had ever been to North Beach before, which is surprising since we both grew up in the area.

In fact, I had never heard of it before I read an article in the Washington Post that mentioned the town. 

North Beach is a tiny, very low-key Beach Town complete with a Boardwalk. There are no serious waves, which is just right for our kids at this age. There is a lovely pier, perfect for fishing. There are nets that keep out jelly-fish and large fish. And, there is the cutest two-story ship play-ground right on the water's edge.

The best part?

North Beach is only 40 miles from our house.

We left house at Anala Bear's Naptime and arrived in time for Lunch. We played for a few hours,washed off, ate some funnel-cake and drove home at 4 pm. 

Everyone had a blast.

We can't wait to go back.

Supposedly there is a terrific Farmer's Market/Art Fair/Classic Car Show every Friday. We are going to try and hit that up one Friday in September, while the weather is still warm.

It was definitely worth the money. Beach fees for Out-of-County Residents are $15 ages 12-54 and $8 for ages 3-11. The Beach was super clean, the facilities were decent and we didn't have to deal with being stung by jelly-fish. We are thinking about getting a Season Pass for next year.