Our House in the Middle of Our Street

Source: thehelpmovie.com via Lesley on Pinterest My church has recently started a Women's Event where ladies of all ages and stages can just relax, get to know one another, and hang out while doing something fun. It's only happened a few months now but I had a pretty good time setting up our August get-together--going to see The Help in theaters! It was a good turnout and about 10 of us showed up. I thought it might get a good reaction since I know a lot of the ladies in our church love to read, and The Help was one book I knew many women had read. I thought it was a safe bet for spending $9 and an evening together and I wasn't wrong. This movie is definitely worth the money. * The story is about a girl named Skeeter (blond above) and her desire to write about the Southern maids who raise the rich, white children and live just at or below poverty line in the segregated era of the 60s. Skeeter befriends the maids of her best friends, and through their courage and ot...

Source: google.bg via Ioana on Pinterest This has been out of theaters and on disc for awhile but it's still recent so I thought I'd include it in my week of movie reviews. This is a remake from The Duke's version but seems like anything the Coen brothers make turns out well, which is why I agreed to watch it. * True Grit is the story of a young girl whose father has been killed by an outlaw. She tries to avenge her father by hiring a rugged lawman named Cogburn to track him down and kill him, and holds him to his word when she hides along for the ride. The plot is interesting and the action is fun to watch. I'm not one for westerns, but perhaps this changed my mind. It was a good movie- well written dialogue with comedic relief, interesting scenery, an accessible plot and of course the nice music helps, too. The ending is also bittersweet, as well, and one I didn't expect, though probably a realistic one during the late 19th century. * I give this movie 3 ou...

Source: impawards.com via Moniky on Pinterest This week is all about the movies. I've seen so many good ones recently--in theaters and at home--that I wanted to share. I'll have four days of movie reviews and a {This Moment} to wrap up the week. * The movie Tree of Life had been on my wishlist to see for a few months before it came to the theater. It wasn't at the Ross for long, and I knew I'd miss it in town, being as Stefan rarely likes to pay for movies when we get Netflix. It came, it passed, and I thought I'd be watching it alone one nap-time in the future. When I went on a little weekend getaway with a friend a couple weeks ago, we decided we had time to catch a flick during the evening, and we agreed on Tree of Life. A few things I'll say about it, first. We watched it at an incredibly late hour and it is long. Our tiredness and it's unique nature caused us to think it a little slower than it probably was. We didn't get out of th...

Join the fun. A new member of the family to love and cherish. Picture taken by Oma's phone. (PS. Not mine)

As this week of garden and food related posts is nearing it's end, I thought I'd put in a small post about what cookbooks and foodie-memoirs I've been enjoying lately...and those that I want to read. I love to check out cookbooks at the library and I try to cook at least one thing per book before I give it back. It's just a fun way to try new things, especially if they are flavors or specialties I might never make otherwise. Source: amazon.com via Sarah on Pinterest I love Giada's show, cookbooks, and recipes. I don't think I've made anything I didn't love. I find that her recipes are much easier to watch than to read, though, and I like that she uses very basic and whole ingredients. Try: green basil smoothie! Source: google.com via Sarah on Pinterest I LOVE these "Everyday Food" cookbooks, from Martha Stewart Kitchens, because there is a picture on every page(!) and the food always turns out well. A very hefty cookbook, too, cou...

Um, I think this is garden update #4, but it's been so long, at least a month, so I can't really remember. Above you can see our beautiful raspberries coming into ripeness on the bushes, and they have expanded three-fold (bushes) in just one hot summer. We are collecting about 20 berries a time/4 times a week and they are going strong. It's fun to see a bunch of white pieces turn red and juicy seemingly overnight. The kids love picking these off and just smashing them into their mouths! We rarely get to the back porch and have any left to bring inside. Unfortunately, that is just about all I have to update. I didn't have much time to snap pictures, I'm barely pulling my camera out of it's spot in my purse these past few weeks, but the growth has been sparse with all our other veggies. * The corn was completely knocked over before it was fully done when we had a horrible storm about two weeks ago. Huge cars were lying on top of cars, houses, and all over the s...

Source: cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest We are now at CSA box #12 this week and we still have about two months left (8 weeks) worth of produce to collect. Now that we're getting to late summer, our box is full of more 'substantial' produce rather than just a bunch of herbs and greens. This week we got: potatoes, tomatoes (regular and gold cherry), okra , green onions, onions, shallots, raspberries (golden and red), a shimam, arugula, eggplant and jalapenos. I always need some help with the arugula, because it's just so darn bitter. Let me know how you like it (and no I will not put it on pizza). Here's what I plan to do with the rest: The tomatoes and jalapenos, and some onions (including green) will find their fate becoming a lean mean and amazing salsa. My husband is the salsa king. Seriously ! The potatoes, shallots, and remaining onions (+ other store bought potatoes, needed more ) will become a delicious side of creamy mashed p...

Sorry about the silence, I haven't been on the computer much recently but don't worry, this week is chock full of pretty visuals, recipes and CSA love, and some delicious books I've devoured (yes, food memoirs, if you must know). Onward! Source: google.com via Carrie on Pinterest Source: bawkbawkbawk.blogspot.com via Theresa on Pinterest Source: itsakeeper.tumblr.com via Mary on Pinterest Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com via Victoria on Pinterest Source: dailybunny.org via Jane on Pinterest Source: hoolabiloki.blogspot.com via Lenny on Pinterest

A {moment} for the parents... join the fun.

The hiking part of our trip came right after biking every morning, and it was actually a really good 'cool down' workout because we were still working hard (especially Day 2!) but it's a much slower pace than biking. The top picture is a park called Chautauqua that both tourists and locals go for a good hike. You can see a small path leading up the grassy knoll (read: large uphill climb, just doesn't look it!) and those little specks are people. In fact, we loved these trails so much, and there are so many of them, that we spent every single day taking a different hike. Day 1 was fairly easy, a nice 4 mile loop up to a peak and back down. It was gently raining that day, too, which cooled us off and felt really nice. The second day we hiked, we took the Royal Arch climb and (mind you, after a 16 mile mountain bike ride) it.was.tough. It was actually only a 3 mile hike, I believe, but it was straight up the mountain on 'stairs' and halfway through I was stopp...

A big reason we wanted to spend our vacation in Boulder was the fact that it is a major bike city. Nationally recognized as 'the fittest city in the nation', there are bike lanes throughout the city, and everywhere is connected by trail. Stefan had a good time, I think, just looking up where we'd go on our bikes when we got there. Although we only had 5 days of vacation, and two of them were driving, we had plenty of time to make multiple bike treks in the mountains. Stefan has been an off-road biker since he was in junior high, and although I love a good bike ride (and spinning happens to be my favorite form of exercise) I had never biked 'off the beaten track', so to speak, until I met him. When we were dating and first married we often went off-road biking around Lincoln and Omaha on the single-track dirt paths, which for a first timer were challenging, but quickly grew boring...especially for Stefan. We bike on dirt trails in Lincoln all the time with the ...

This past week Stefan and I left for a vacation up to beautiful Boulder, Colorado. We had our place booked, the bikes hitched, the cooler stored and we hit the road. All was going well. We were going to visit my Grandma who lives in Denver later that night to catch up and take her out to eat, and then spend the rest of the time in Boulder biking, hiking, eating, and relaxing. Apparently, our car had other plans. We 'ran out of gas' thirty miles outside of North Platte (aka The Bermuda Triangle of the Midwest) and after waiting and hour in the worst-recorded heat (well, for Lincoln anyway) outside the gas man came! Only it wasn't gas we'd run out of...our car had to be towed into town. We sat at a Dairy Queen and watched the local teenagers flirt with each other while flies buzzed around us. It was bliss. Or...not. * After another 70 minutes--yes, I was counting--of waiting, our tow-truck man came and we would be in North Platte shortly; considering. When we reached t...

With our recent trip to Boulder (blog posts coming soon, settle down), the drive back home was just what we expected: miles of flat, hot, humid, and big skies. At least one of those things is good. To celebrate our re-entry and to try to be positive that there really is one more month of my least favorite season, I give you: Landscape. Source: brownstain.tumblr.com via Maria on Pinterest Source: None via Robin on Pinterest Source: etsy.com via Vicki on Pinterest Source: haw-lin.com via Laura on Pinterest Source: visualuproar.tumblr.com via SweetLilMzMia on Pinterest Source: ffffound.com via Hannah on Pinterest

Source: sunsurfer.tumblr.com via Kristi on Pinterest Stefan and I are headed to beautiful Boulder, Colorado (above) this week for a wonderful vacation hiking in the mountains, combing Pearl Street, and biking off road. Have a good week and see you back here next Monday.