Potato Salad and Jewelry!

Talk about an odd combination! =)

It is the time of year for cookouts, bonfires, and other such gatherings. You know what that means? Good food!! Burgers, brats, potato salad, baked beans, and of course...s'mores!!! In the side dish arena potato salad is king and I have been looking for a good recipe for a while. Something rustic and different. Well let me tell you this recipe is perfection!!! Honestly when I first saw it I wasn't sure if I would love it or hate it, but it turned out to be amazing! I adapted it from this recipe.

Potato Salad

• 2 pounds baby red potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
• 3/4 cup mayonnaise *
• 1 Tbsp. prepared mustard *
• 1 Tbsp. pickle juice *
• 1 garlic clove, crushed *
• 1 cup peas, steamed
• 1 cup corn, cooked, cut off the cob
• 8 slices bacon
• 1 bunch of green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup bread and butter pickles, chopped
• salt and pepper

Cook the potatoes, corn on the cob and peas (all separately) and set aside to cool.
Mix the mayonnaise, mustard, pickle juice and garlic together and set aside.
Cook the bacon and green onions together until the bacon is crispy. Let cool and cut bacon into pieces. 
Cut the corn off of the cob and chop the pickles.
Toss the potatoes in the dressing while they are barely warm and set aside for 10 minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients and salt and pepper to taste and mix gently to combine.

*These are the ingredients for the dressing. I went a smidge over these measurements the second time I made this because I wanted a little more dressing, but that is just my personal preference. =)

 If you have the self restraint to not eat it all immediately you can refrigerate it until it is chilled and your guests have arrived...or you could always hide it in the back of your fridge and run down the road for a tub of store bought to serve everyone else and save the good stuff for your midnight snack later...just saying, it's that good... ;)


Now for the sparkly part of this post!!! I won a giveaway from Emily Beachy at Everyday Beauty Co.!!!  If you are looking to add to your jewelry collection or purchase a little something for a friend, check out her etsy shop here! She makes beautiful and unique jewelry designs and I am compiling quite the wish list! ;)  Here is the necklace I received, and I had to include the packaging details which were simply sweet! I love when people take the time to make the finishing touches special!! I only wish my camera would have captured the sparkle factor better! =)

That's all for today!

Keep Dreaming!

Birthday Time!!!

We pause our regularly scheduled programing to bring you breaking news....today is this guy's birthday!!!!!!

He will probably give me his grumpy face later for writing this, but I have already decided that it is totally worth it.  I mean what is the point in having a blog if you can't write a mushy post about your spouse from time to time??? ;)

(FYI that was your warning, feel free to bail now if mushy isn't your thing!)

You see, Jeremy started making some crazy choices in his life almost two years ago. He made the choice to throw out some preconceived ideas about how his life was going to look. He made the choice to get involved in a messy and complicated situation. He made the choice to be unfazed by baggage and to walk down a healing journey through wounds he did not create. He made the choice to show up. Day in and day out. He made the choice to commit, not to one person, but to three and never once looked back. And here's why it's a big deal: He. Didn't. Have. To. At any point he could have stopped, changed his mind, said it was too much, walked away. But he didn't.

Instead he was all in and steady as a rock.

He traded a carefree lifestyle for an instant family. He traded evenings hanging out with friends for storybooks and bedtime prayers. He traded a flexible income to become the sole provider so that I could stay home with our kiddos.

He became daddy. Watching him love and father our kiddos is hands down the sweetest thing in the entire world to me. It blows my mind to look at our family and see the ways that God has seamlessly woven us together.

So this is to the man who blesses me beyond belief. The one who knows me better than I know myself. My best friend and all time favorite person to dream with. The daddy of our children. The person I will gladly let hog 75% of our bed in return for warming up my ice cold feet! ;) Happy Birthday Jeremy!!! I am looking forward to so many adventures with you!!! 

I love you!!!

Can you remember?

This has been running through my head for the past couple of days.

I am reading this book, A Million Little Ways, by Emily P. Freeman. About uncovering the art we were created to live. (Amazing book!!!!) She talks about first thoughts. Those raw, honest, knee jerk thoughts that we have to statements, questions and situations. She said something that really resonated with me: "Many of us have spent our entire lives editing out our first thoughts.  We do this for all kinds of reasons-to avoid critique, prevent failure,  please people, or simply because we can't see how they will logically fit into our lives." 

There was a period of my life when I believed a lot of lies. One of which was that my thoughts and feelings were invalid, irrelevant, unimportant. That I had nothing of value to contribute to projects or conversations, no advice to give. That I had no voice. So I would walk this internal line. Measuring every word before I said it. Weighing it to see how it would come across, whether it would make sense or not. Whether it would contribute anything of worth to the conversation. Avoiding anything that might make me sound foolish or silly or bring ridicule. And if it failed in any of those areas I would simply not say it. I would tuck it away with all of my other unspoken words.

She talked about how first thoughts have tremendous energy. They are the things that we actually see and feel before our rational and logical selves intervene. It is our true self. Honest, raw, imperfect. I had started bypassing that part of my thinking because raw and imperfect weren't allowed. They were too much of a risk. It left you open, vulnerable. Instead my immediate responses would be based on what I thought would be most well received. Over the past few years I have been working to change those patterns.  To get rid of the automatic responses and give myself space to identify what I really think and feel. Space to be honest, with myself and others. To find those places, my community where I can share my raw, imperfect self instead of hiding it away. And do you know what I have found? That in those open, vulnerable moments true relationship happens. Because when you take the step to be raw, messy and real, it gives someone else the freedom to do the same. To lower their guard and dare to be simply, honestly, themselves. To discover who they really are. To realize that they have value. That their thoughts and words have worth and influence. Then the lies start to crack. They don't hold the weight that they once did. They break off under the pressure of truth. And that is freedom.

So what lies do you need to crack?

Because just in case no one else is speaking this to you, let me tell you a few things. 

You are beautiful and you are brave. You have incredible worth. You are enough. Period. You are strong and you are tender. You will make mistakes and have great successes, remember that the former doesn't diminish the later. You have a voice. One that can shout victory from the mountaintops and whisper comfort in the valley. You have influence - people around you who need you. Your smile, your humor, your tears, your heart. You matter. The little, everyday, seemingly mundane things matter. You were created by a Father who delights in you - the real you, in all of your messy imperfections. You are chosen and dearly loved.

Remember that.

"There is nothing more rare, nor more beautiful, than a woman being unapologetically herself; comfortable in her perfect imperfection." 

Keep Dreaming!