We've already put 180 pictures (60 per album, right?) on facebook, but just in case anyone reads this who doesn't have facebook, here's a sampling.
We spent the first 4 days of vacation at Deep Creek Lake with the Minns. A couple from church has a home there that they offered to us for our time away. It was beautiful, fantastic, a super fun time!
Waffles!
Normally when I make meals up they turn out, well, edible. :) But yesterday I made something new that I loved! (Jamie didn't really like it, but I'll put it on here so you can try it and vote which one of us is right.)
I started by heating up some (like maybe 1-2 Tbsp?) olive oil in a frying pan. The first time, I left it a little too long and ended up with flaming oil, a very loud smoke detector going off, and an adrenaline rush. But no harm done (other than the smoke detector not being on the ceiling anymore and a pan that might be a little blackened).
The second time I used a non-burned skillet thingy and heated oil again but at a lesser heat this time. I put in probably around 5-6 frozen chicken tenderloins and sprinkled McCormick's Chicken seasoning on it...and then added probably 1 Tbsp of dried rosemary (I think that was the key). I let that cook for a little bit and then turned the chicken. After that (and once the oil started getting kind of burny) I decided I needed to add white wine to get rid of the burny-ness. So, I added maybe 1/4-1/3 cup of white wine and let that cook for awhile.
Meanwhile I was trying to think of what else to make with the chicken and realized I had some bow-tie pasta that was left-over from a meal the other day. It had a little bit of seasoning on it, but I was afraid it would dry out in the microwave. So, I microwaved it for two minutes and then added 1 can of diced tomatoes and the pasta to my wine/chicken mixture and stirred it up. I let that boil for a while until the pasta was thoroughly heated (and the chicken was done...I'm always paranoid that it won't get done) and then served it in bowls.
Yum. Except Jamie didn't really like it.
So I made him monkey bread out of Pillsbury-type biscuits later.
And we both thoroughly broke our no-carb diet. :)
Last Wednesday, I had the privilege of playing the formerly paralyzed man (see Mark 2:1-12) at TFC's kids camp. I was told that after a few songs, I would come out and surprise the 120 kids who would be gathered in the Fellowship Hall, and tell my story. I had a busy Monday and Tuesday so I hadn't given much thought to what exactly I would say until the night before.Last Monday night we had Julianna and Larissa over for yummy kabobs on the grill. We (the girls) worked diligently to get them all made and were rewarded by two things.
1. A beautiful view from the balcony where we keep our Indoor/Outdoor George Foreman Grill.
Can you see the top one?
As we sat and looked at the beautiful rainbows we were reminded of God's faithfulness to keep His promises. It was actually really encouraging....which I think was the point of rainbows in the first place anyway. :) (Although we did also discuss going to try to find the pot of gold at the end of it!)
And the second reward for diligent cooking:
2) Delicious food. It was SO yummy! And for dessert we had strawberries with icecream and whipped cream.
What?!? LOL.
Last weekend Jamie had a weekend off, which doesn't happen very often. We had been trying to plan ahead because, more often than not, when we have an extra day off (like I'm off on a Thursday or he has a Saturday off or something) we don't have anything planned and end up frustrated that we didn't use our time off more productively. So, we (read: Jamie) had been looking at different places we could go. We looked at Ocean City, Virginia Beach, New York, even some places in Florida, NC, Montana, etc. Ha. Its summer. Anywhere we could drive or get cheap transportation had expensive hotels. Anywhere with free or cheap places to stay (like Rebekah and Ryan or my grandparents) was too expensive to fly to. We kept looking and hoping and contacting our Marriott friend. :) But nothing.
It got to Friday and we still hadn't found anything that was really affordable. So, we finally decided to stay in town. BUT, Jamie had received an email from Marriott that they had specials on DC hotels. So, we spent Friday kind of how we normally do. Just hanging out, running errands, etc.
On Saturday, we slept in, packed, got ready and drove all the way to the Westfields Marriott, where we spent the night before we left for our honeymoon almost 2 years ago. (Ha. Its like 20 minutes from our apartment, but we tried to imagine that we were just arriving from a long drive as we got there.) We checked in, ate lunch at one of the on-site restaurants, and then my lavish husband had signed me up for a facial and a massage at their spa. Ahhhh. While I was enjoying that, Jamie sat by the pool where I joined him when I was done. It was perfect weather. Beautiful, hot, but not too hot. And best of all, it felt like vacation: a different world.
After the pool we went to Legal Seafoods for dinner, which was also quite nice. (We justified it to ourselves by reminding ourselves what it would have cost to go to New York or Florida or even Ocean City.)
And then after dinner Jamie ordered chocolate covered strawberries and champagne delivered to the room as a surprise. (I know. I don't blame you for being jealous!)
On Sunday morning we had a rare opportunity to visit another church on a Sunday, so we went to our other favorite DC area church: Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, MD, where our friends Julianna and Larissa (and Julianna's new fiance, Jason) go. After church it was out for sushi with our friends (although neither of us dared to actually get sushi!) and then home from our mini-vacation.
It was wonderful. Refreshing, relaxing, and just a great time to be together. It was one of those weekends when I just couldn't wipe the smile off my face.
We visited PA again this weekend. Its such a different place from DC. Everyone is so hospitable and friendly. I mean EVERYONE. Even people who you just meet on the street or just happen to live nearby. Plus, we stay with Jon, Celeste, Izabella, Caleb, Joshua, and Johnny. Pretty different from the way we live right now with just the two of us. Oh, and there's no traffic. Yup, its a great place to get away!
So, we didn't take very many pictures of actually doing stuff, but we do have some fun ones with the kids...or by the kids.
Sitting in the living room talking, playing on the computer, etc.
We took Johnny to a play ground while the kids were at school. Most of the time it was just Johnny and me while Jamie went running. Every once in a while Johnny would ask, "Where Jamie?" I'd tell him that Jamie was running. After a while he decided that he wanted to go running too so we ran from tree to tree around the playground. Ha ha. He loved it!
Somehow Jon got a hold of Jamie's camera.
Like father, like son.
I promise they don't drug him.
On Friday night we had yummy chicken salad and the boys and I made delicious dessert (from Celeste's recipe). Johnny loves to wash his hands with the "blue soap" and, after soaping up, stops to smell it saying, "Mmmm. 'mells good!"
On Saturday we went for a long walk with Johnny and Celeste. When we got back we hung out on the porch for a while.
And played with "Bob-kitty" who lives next door.
Before we left we went to Bella's piano recital. Here's the view in the car on the way there.
And here's beautiful Bella playing beautifully.
Aw. I miss them already.
For some reason lately we've been taking less pictures. I'm not quite sure why. We have been doing fun things. But Jamie is our main photographer and he has really been wanting a better camera than the point-and-shoot that we have now. I think the quality of pictures that we can get is not what he would like (and its not like I wouldn't love to have better quality pictures too...) anyway, that's just my theory - but I haven't checked it with him.
A couple weeks ago we went to the new(ish) Air and Space museum. We stopped right outside it to watch the planes flying over. I took this one with Jamie's iphone.
Our memorial day weekend was crazy busy - but also a ton of fun. Andrew was in town, so we hung out with him a lot. Rebecca Romaneski and her fiance Deric were also in town, so I went to their wedding shower while Jamie was at church on Saturday. Then on Sunday we went out to lunch with them. On Monday the MacGowans came over for burgers and hotdogs. It was fun to actually host them here! Here are a few pictures, again from Jamie's phone.
Tim with the glasses that we love so much.
Jamie laughing at something.
Yum. Food.
Benjamin looking cute getting his back scratched. Me looking weird.
This one probably should have gone first, but here it is. A few weeks ago Jamie and I caved and got crocs. They're actually very comfy, but I don't recommend wearing them for long fast walks. You'll see why later.
This past weekend we went to visit Jon, Celeste, and the kids in PA again. I'll put that in a separate post.
