7 Quick Takes (Volume 9)

--- 1 --- 

Paul's found a job! He is working part time as an Educational Assistant at a local Christian High School and part time helping a friend's business. Between the two he is full time, and has an opportunity to apply for a few teaching jobs in January. We're very happy and he's pleased to ease into teaching slowly - this gives him time in the classroom without being the one in charge. Last nigh though, I watched him help our student Jessie with her homework and I was reminded that he was born to teach. I pray/hope the right position comes along at the right time.  

Now Paul is working full time and I'm working 4 days at work, plus running the house and our students. It's excellent. We're entering into season "debt paydown" - it's an exciting time; we basically live like we still only have one income and put almost everything else onto debt. I've actually been looking forward to this season for sometime.

The other great thing about us both working is that mornings are so much easier when we both have to get up around the same time. If one of us gets to lay in bed, the other person struggles to be motivated to get up. When we both have to get up, we help motivate each other to be up and out of bed on time. So helpful!

--- 2 --- 

I've gotten a gym pass so finally after a month and a half of having no place to shower at work, therefore no way to bike to work, I've been able to start up again. I missed it a lot! I didn't realize how much until I started again. It's a half hour there, plus 20 minutes to change and walk to work and just over half and hour back, with 15 minutes to change. In the summer I get home around 5:22 and in the winter it's more like 5:30. The sun really does make the commute much faster/easier/safer. Not biking for the month helped me gain quite a bit of weight, so I'm back on operation "bike lots and eat better". We'll see how it goes - I quite hate the eat better side of it. 

{The view as I leave in the morning on my bike}

--- 3 --- 

I am on the Island for a wedding this weekend (wedding starts in 40 minutes!) and I rode to the wedding in the back of a SUV/Van thing. Since I wasn't in charge of the trip or driving I got to pull out my iPad and keyboard and write yesterdays and most of todays post. So thankful for restful time like that. I also rested and read a book. Happy Tara for the win!

When I was on the ferry I saw a sign that tickled my fancy when I went to Europe with my parents 10 years ago. The sign said "Step over Sill" by someone had added a "y" and for some reason, "step over, silly" as a command, makes me laugh and laugh and laugh. 

--- 4 --- 

As mentioned, I am typing this from the back of a Ford Flex as I drive up island from Sydney to Honeymoon Bay outside of Lake Cowichan. I am going to help with a friends sister's wedding - and being here has made me remember how much I love this Island. The Ferries, the scenery. I loved growing up here. As much as Port is my home, the whole island is in my heart too - we grew up travelling it up and down and back and forth, something I continued well into my adulthood. I wish there wasn't such an expensive ferry in between us. 

Oh the island highway, and the various familiar stops. There is such nostalgia all up and down this place. I hope to be able to bring my kids over fairly regularly - I want them to be raised with Vancouver Island as a family place, like I was with Vancouver. For Paul's sake we must tie in Portland/Oregan as well - yikes, so many places to let them fall in love with. 

--- 5 --- 

Travel day I came up with a great outfit. The weather was hot out - the sun hasn't gotten the memo that it's fall and I'm oh so thankful. That being said, air conditioned ferries and restaurants make picking an outfit tricky. I chose a tank top and short with a chambray pullover to add in the coolth. I felt comfortable all day. It's a winner!

--- 6 --- 

I am currently heading to wedding 9 of 11 since March. Today is the last "summer" wedding, the next two are both in October and are definitely more "fall"y. At some point I have a post brewing about weddings and such - like a "What 11 weddings has tuaght me" sort of post. We'll see. It's only brewing in my head so we'll see if it translates into a blogpost. 

But I will say, this season of weddings has been a blast. There have been some really hard parts, some really really awesome parts, many expensive parts, quite a few rewarding parts and a lot learned. Through these weddings I can say that by choosing to be involved in them and not just attending, I have grown so much closer to the women getting married and to the women closest to each bride and for that I wouldn't take back a moment of back pain, late nights and early mornings. I have been blessed to serve these women, and call them friends. 

So far this season: 

Ana's  Vancouver wedding (which started the whole time off) where I grew to love this woman even more than I had originally (Ana you rock!) and slightly coveted her wedding (that woman has mad skills)

Sara's Surrey wedding where I got to see family come together and learn a lot about my newest sibling in law

Sunshine's Vancouver wedding where I got to know this sweet lady even better and see her graciousness in full force

Rebekah's Peace Arch wedding where Canada met with USA and I got to witness a wedding where God moved and have the chance to grow closer to this friend of mine and understand where she came from and who she is

Sarah's Nelson wedding which was not only fun but gave all of us Vancouver friends a chance to see her and her new love happy together

Yhan's wedding where I finally got to get a glimpse of who Yhan really was - and how very loved she is by so many around her. 
Ereka's wedding was a reinforcement of all I already knew about her - she is amazing and loved and absolutely one of the best people I know. Love her TONS. 
Stef's wedding was a wonderful opportunity to grow closer to her and learn more about where she comes from. I'm so thankful for the time with her. 
Currently, I'm at Alex's wedding - I wish LeAnna, you could meet her. She reminds me of a mix between  you and your sister-in-laws. She says things like "Stupid Monkey" and a thousand other LeAnna isms that I miss and love about you. Alex is stress free and is so great to be around on this big day. Also? Lord of the Rings themed invitations, complete with pop up Calvin and Hobbes LOTR cartoon cut out. Awesome. 

 --- 7 --- 

This weekend I get to head to Parksville for Crystal's 30th birthday - I'm so thankful I'm on the island for this wedding already. It's a pie making competition night, so I'm stoked about that. On top of that I'm looking forward to Saturday with her at the mall - shoe shopping and dress fitting and general "girlyness". I love this friend and I'm stoked to get to spend so much time with her in the coming months. Just over a month to her big day and I feel so blessed to get to stand with her as she married her love, John. I won't say I called it (cause I didn't) BUT I will say I always like them together and was always pro-John. So this will be a great day. And now - time for a wedding, happy weekend!!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Félicitations and much more

What a fun filled couple of weeks. We had two weekends in a row that we got to be in Vancouver - busy but so nice to be based out of the home town. 

The long weekend we had lots of time at home to work on projects and lots of time with friends - Movie Nights (Sister Act 2, twice!), Dinner parties with new friends and a lovely catch up dinner with a childhood friend. then it was back to work and time for my first week with Fridays off! And better yet it was already a short week with Monday off. wahoo!

Because it was Sam and Stef's Wedding that coming Saturday we had more friends in town - so we had two nights that week of casual hangouts at our house with friends - it's nice to have people in our home and feel like family. And of course, with Sam and Stef's wedding brought Jodi - after months in Alberta it was soooo nice to see her again. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday brought these casual evening hangouts and then Friday night brought Sam and Stef's rehearsal dinner at our house. We did the rehearsal out in the school yard behind my house (since their wedding space was booked every night before their wedding) and then we all headed in for dinner and hang outs. Oh man - it was awesome. I have said before that I LOVE having people in my house, and this week that was affirmed over and over again. Given that Sam and Stef come over for dinner every week for lifegroup, it felt right to have their wedding rehearsal dinner at our place. So great to see their parents and meet all of Stef's quebecois bridesmaids. I practiced as much french as I could - butchering it a lot as I went. They appreciated the effort though, thankfully. It was a great night! We were up late chatting and it was so perfect. 

{There was a lot of laughter}

During the day Friday I got up to clean and tidy the house - I was thankful to have the time off before the rehearsal to clean. Then I met up with Jenna and her kids and we took a trip to Richmond to run errands. I love hanging out with the kids, even if little boys and errands make for a hectic mix. I was about to leave the Maxwell's and, run another errand and then head home to rest before continuing to get ready for the party when Connor asked if he could join me. I weighed the Pro's and Con's - as much as he could be helpful, he was still 5, so it wouldn't really be bringing him just for the help. But I really want my nephews growing up knowing that their aunts love them, and to never feel like they are a burden to me. I had that growing up and I so appreciated it. So i told him he could come. We went to Winners/Home Sense and had a great time. WHen we were in the shoe section I asked him if he was bored and he said, "No, because I'm with you!" Um, so sweet. Daaang. 

Then we were planning to head home and he seemed sleepy and I said he'd probably need a nap when he got home. I said I was going to have a nap too. He told me he would like to have his nap at my house with me. I said that he should probably get home though, since that's where his bed was. He looked at me and said, "I want to nap at your house, in your bed with you, and when I wake up you will smile at me". Um.....ok. Can't say no to that! We had a lovely nap and I'm so glad he was there - if he wasn't I wouldn't have been able to justify the nap and would have just worked away. Thanks Connor!

Saturday was a long-ish day but good. We needed to be out in Surrey (45 minutes way) by 11am for a family visit with Paul's step sister and her kids since they were in town for the wedding. We hung out with them for a few hours and it was really nice. Salem and Jordon are cuties! Then we swung by Bed, Bath & Beyond to get new sheets (woo!) on our way home and I got back in time to drop Paul off and dash over to Blo for a Blo Out - I left feeling fabulous. Then it was home to get dressed and ready for the wedding. 

I was event co-ordinating this one, so what that means basically is that I need to know everything the bride and groom knows, so that for the day no one needs to bother them. I have a lot of fun with this. I also have to be bossy and in control (both things I'm great at). I have learned not to take on too much with this roll - I do not set up the hall, nor do I take on takedown. Of course I end up helping with both, but I make sure not to sign up for anything specific otherwise I could be working at weddings from first thing in the morning until late at night and with my back that would be BAD news. Already at a normal wedding that I am a part of I deal with lots of back pain by the end of the night but if I have to work early and late it gets dicey. My body does not love days like that. So I've learned to take it easy. 

We got to the venue around 5:30 - the wedding was scheduled for 6, but didn't end up happening until 6:30, which was good as there were a few glitches to work out. But thankfully the place looked gorgeous, Sam and Stef had thought of so many great details and they had a fantastic set up team! The Bridal Party looked smashing - we have great looking friends. The wedding was sweet and the reception was lighthearted, low key, super sweet and so perfect for the new Alviar couple. I loved it. The guest list was crammed full of people I love - I was surrounded by friends and family - the dancing was great, the bar has a tasty new beer to discover (thanks Lims for the recommendation) and the night was perfect. We were there late until almost one helping the tear down team (even without being on that time, I'll. always end up helping - that's why I make sure there's a full team even without Paul and I, to make it less hellish). 

All in all it was a perfect wedding. Stef looked gorgeous (of course), the couple looked rapturously in love, I worked my butt off making sure everything went smoothly and it was great to see East and West collide. Of course no wedding of Sam's would be complete without music - between speeches friends of Sam's sang them two songs they'd written and after all that and the couples speech, Sam sang the song he wrote about their love story. It's like they were trying to make us cry. So sweet. Loved it. 

{The Alviars}

{The family being entertained by Sam's Dad}

{The Cole klan - Jenna's family too - love it!}

Congratulations Sam and Stef! It was a perfect day, you're a beautiful couple and we can't wait to spend years being couple-friends with you!

And heck, now we're slightly related Stef! My sister married Colin, who is Sam's cousin - sooooo that basically means we're semi related. Woop woop. 

I wish I could tell you that after all that we were free Sunday to relax but NOPE. Sunday bright and early we picked up Paul's sister Katie and headed to White Rock for a Morgan family photo shoot. 

We got home by 1pm. Phew. I chatted with Lyndsay who was home (love that she lives with us now) and then finally got a nap for an hour. One coffee date later (thanks for the great chat Mari) I was back home and ready for a neighbour hood block party. I pulled together some meat and a salad and we walked over to the other section of Chester Street. I was amazed - it looked like a block party from a movie, or one of the block parties in my neighbourhood growing up. So happy. So great to meet neighbours as well! Some of them even play board games, so I have high hopes for those friendships. Bottle Rockets, a pinata and lots of great good - great party! And already while cycling near the house I've run into some neighbours. Love that. 

And after that party we headed home to make lunches and tidy up the kitchen before heading to Lyndsay's birthday party at the guys house. I was tired and wasn't keen on leaving the house but wanted to be there to celebrate Lyndsay. I walked in and saw a room full of amazing people - amazing women mostly and realized I was so so so glad to be there. We stayed for a couple hours and it was thoroughly lovely. Thank you Lyndsay for having such great friends! You rock, and I love you tons. And your friends. And your friends friends. I so enjoyed the time - what a great night. 

{Lynds & Laura, Laura & Kathryn, Charlotte and me, 

Laura, Charlotte & me, me & Elle}

{Cake time for Lyndsay!}

Then it was time for a work week but with some fun additions, Monday night we were having my Auntie Sandy and Uncle Jake over for dinner with my cousin John. It was a GREAT night of conversation and laughter. I made dinner and she made pies. Lovely. Tuesday we had our lifegroup over for a fall start dinner and bible study - it was great. We talked about faith. And then was Wednesday - Thursday AM I was leaving for the Island so I stayed home and made lunches for the next two days and dinners for the next two days. I was so tired by the time I went to bed! I sewed a button onto Paul's pants and then hit the hay. 

For the food while I was away I made a great system;

Lunches - Thursday, salad (cobb with quinoa) and Friday, BLTC (Bacon, Lettuce, Turkey and Cheese). 

Dinners: Before bed I put a Cheddar, Asparagus & Potato soup into the crockpot, and prepped the morning's crockpot meal. In the morning when I woke up I blended the soup and put it in the fridge for Friday's dinner and then combined my ingredients for that nights dinner into the Crockpot. Winning! That way, I could leave Thursday morning and the gang could still have a hot meal ready for them after school/work. Woo!

And that bring us up to now - with a Camp Recap still coming, as well as thoughts on this weekend. 

PSL

I kept seeing the letters "PSL" come up on people's facebook status' and in blogs and such. I noticed the word was all over the place. I wondered what it meant? It sounded like PTSD, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or some sort sort of infection in the body. Of course I couldn't have that many friends having the same issue, so I wondered if it stood for something like VPL - Visible Panty Lines. But no, men were posting about it also. I would have thought it was something teeney like "tbh" - a facebook game where you write a "to be honest" about someone. But I had adult friends writing about it. I was stumped. And intrigued. And bothered. I don't like not knowing things. 

When I found out that the PSL people were referring to was Pumpkin Spice Latte's at Starbucks I was amazed - are they really so famous that as a culture we're letting them be called by only three letters? I meant we don't even do that with Eggnog or Hot Chocholate (it's shortest commonly referred to title is HoCho, a whole two letters longer than PSL). I found this all very interesting. 

But then I started to think about the fanaticism I see people displaying in regards to Pumpkin Spice Latte's. All fall my news feed is alive with PSL excitement. TV shows, magazines, blogs, they all make reference to this coffee treat. My Pinterest feed and Blog Reader are filled with make it yourself versions of this drink. Why would I be surprised that it's taken on such a life of it's own? Why wouldn't it?

People talk and write about it in raptures - it's love, it's family and fall and everything autumn rolled into one cup. The sun sets peacefully on it in a field next to a pumpkin. It's PSL - real love. 

Today I decided enough was enough. I have never tried this drink before, but all these many many people couldn't be wrong. They couldn't. So I popped down to Starbucks to try it out. Now, I found it weird - there were no angels singing when I went to order it. The barista didn't congratulate me on my choice. It was a strangely lackluster experience...and they spelled my name "Tera". Dagger to the heart. 

But I kept an open mind; partially because I had paid almost $5 dollars for this drink and I was going to enjoy it! Partially because I had asked for a tall in a grande cup, and paid for a tall, but received a full grande size. FTW. (Those initials DO deserve to be shorten to three letters. For those of you less hip than myself that stands for For The Win. Which I only know because of the internets).

My review of the PSL? I don't hate it. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever drank, nor even close. If someone bought me one in the future I'd probably drink it. But I'm confused - I don't taste any pumpkin. Spice? Yes, I taste spice. Pumpkin? No. No, pumpkin. 

For reals though, where's the pumpkin? When I make pumpkin soup, it doesn't matter that it's one pumpkin to like 5 onions, and I add other stuff too, you can still taste the pumpkin! When I make pumpkin cups with a cup of pumpkin mix, you can always taste pumpkin. My PSL is more of an SL, if you know what I mean. [What I mean is exactly what I said, FYI]. Oh and FYI means, For Your Information, but that's an old one, so you probably already knew that. Dang it Tera Tara. 

Oh well PSL, I feel like you tried. Actually that's a lie. I don't feel like you tried. I feel like I bought you and drank you and now will move on. That's how I feel if I really stop to examine my feelings on the topic. 

And for this post, world, you're welcome. 

Post Script: I wanted to add a link to some of these words and their definitions on Urban Dictionary but their descriptions have a habit of being gross and profanity filled. So yeah, no. Not going to happen. 

Sassy Secretary Desk

I love cool furniture projects. I mean, taking something ugly and making it beautiful? That's amazing. It's something I never would thought I could do. I follow many blogs that have writers with incredible ideas. One of those blogs is Sarah M. Dorsey Designs. She makes some absolutely stunning pieces - and the rooms she pulls together amaze me. She was part of a "Creating with the Stars" challenge and the piece she made for them was a show stopper. I mean, I could not stop going back to look at it. 

And she showed us the before - I was shocked, how did something so plain and ordinary end up looking so fabulous? It was a design miracle. As I was needing a hutch to store mason jars and hosting stuffs, I thought a piece like hers might just be the perfect solution. I began to keep my eyes open for a rough before piece. And by keep my eyes open, I mean scour Craigslist's free section every day and peer down all alleys looking for free furniture.  

One day I came across this beauty for free on Craigslist. It was out in an alley 5 minutes from my house, almost behind our church. I sent my sister (who lives a few blocks away) to check and see if it was in decent condition before I dragged Paul over there after work. 

This was a "fun" experience for a few reasons. Firstly, Paul thought it was super ugly. He's right. Second, we have a small Rav4, not a truck. This piece is huge. There was no way it was going to fit into the Rav and we don't have a rack on the top of our car. What to do. Though it was pretty close to our house, we definitely couldn't walk it - and remember, I have a bad back. We'd grabbed a blanket and a rope/string, so Paul decided we should try to tie it to the top of the car and drive home real slow. So that's what we did. It was terrifying. I was certain it was going to come crashing forward the whole way home. The stress!!! I wanted to take a picture but Paul was already super stressed, so I didn't want to push my luck. There may have been some warnings issued from him that cemented that reasoning. 

Anyways, we got it into the house and that was that. Due to busyness it sat in the garage for about a week. Then it was time to sand! I had another project on the go, so I worked on that project and Paul sanded this one for me. 

Our workspace / garage. 

This project meant our car was booted into the driveway all summer. Totally worth it though.

Then the two pieces sat there for a month until I had time to prime. I spent one evening priming and both of my projects. 

Primed!

I took off the cupboard doors, and in retrospect I wish I'd taken off the drop down door as well. Sadly, I ended up painting the hardware and while that's fine, it would look a lot better if I'd taken that time and salvaged it. Oh well, now I know! It's my first project and I was on a steep learning curve!

Then the piece sat for an even longer time - another two weeks passed before I had time to stencil the backing. I forgot to take a picture of this infuriating step. Firstly, we bought a piece of board (I think MDF) at Home Depot for $13 and they cut it to our exact measurements. I found my stencil at Micheal's in a package - a grouping by Martha Stewart. I've never stenciled before and oh man it's hard. I couldn't get it to be the same, or even remotely uniform. It took me four hours to do the back. UGH. While most people really like it and don't mind the not awesomeness of it, I know how sophisticated and classy the example piece looks, so I notice it, big time. 

At this stage I was disapointed - the primed shelf looked weird, the stenciling sucked (in my opinion) and I was losing hope. 

Then almost a month later I had time to paint! My amazing paint guru, Anna, at Home Depot Cambie Street had helped me pick my colors and steered me in the direction of a gorgeous white paint. I painted coat one, let it dry for 4 hours.

At this stage my excitement was starting to come back. It looked good. Then Paul and I tag team painting the second coat and then it was done! We wrangled it up the stairs, attached the back and found a home for it. Then I, excitedly, filled it with what it needed to contain and voila! She was done. I was in like. Not quite love, but like. The rest of the house, however, loves it. As do any guests that come over. So it's only, perfectionist me that is struggling. I do have to say though, it's a thousand times better than what it looked like originally, it was a great learning project, I love it in our home and we put the back up knowing I might find a print that I like better and switch it out. Phew. 

Our house is all greys and browns and whites (I talked about this before during our entryway revamp) so this helps add a much needed pop, tying into the color of the new entryway shelving. 

My stuff looks so pretty in it!

And last, but not least, because everyone loves a before and after shot:

Yessiree, she's come a long ways!

And those are the details of my Sassy Secretary Desk Revamp. 

Bam!

Lately and a Hollywood Wedding

So life is nice and full. 

Our rooms are all full of students, our lives are busy but with enough time to relax and watch a funny movie (case in point, currently watching "Hot Fuzz" and thanking God for this movie and its hilarity....This movie gets me....Oh my word). 

Currently in house we have Jessie (15 year old Chinese high school student - such a sweetheart), Lyndsay (mid-twenties youth worker and church friend - also my first roommate in Vancouver  and an adopted cousin - love her!), Rachel (early twenties student from church - such an answer to prayer - she is awesome) and Duncan (late twenties, Craigslist find - a great addition to our home). Then there's Paul and myself - of course we are awesome, late twenties, rad).  It's alive and so much fun. Tonight at dinner we had Paul's sister Katie over and our student Jessie home. We got to hear about her first day and chat with Katie. Then my some of my boy cousins came over to hang out for a bit. So much laughter. While the boys chatted and made silliness I made lunches for the crew. Salads with quinoa - awesomeness. 

Anyways - it's been a great summer (which I can say now that's the summer's over) lots of days at the lake, lots of time with friends and many a good hangout. Also, lots of food and normalness. 

Also I found a simple new outfit:

Casual and gold. 

And I found this hilarious chart of Maslow's hierarchy of needs

I also cooked lots of good food, most notably this chicken potpie - heaven.

Our house LOVED this recipe

We've also attended a bajillion weddings - 11 between March and October to be exact. I just found these photos taken by Dylan and Deve Jenkinson at Yhan and Larry's Wedding and loved them. 

And this one with Irene - 

co wedding junkie/organizer, coworker, co womens ministry leader, friend, church family and more. 

So thankful for this lady!

I had this awesome rommate named Ana. She was from Brazil. She lived with us all summer and is now on her way to live with friends of ours in Saskatoon. We will miss hear greatly as a household. Ana and I got to have a final brunch at Cafe Barney before she left town - best Eggs Benedict's in town...mmmbacon. Anyways, we had a lovely time and we will miss her GREATLY.

The last wedding we attended was on the 18th - we had to come back from camp just to attend! I was more than happy to do that as there is NO WAY I would miss seeing these two get married! I met Ereka when she had first moved here - I was one of her very first friends here! I LOVE her. She is sweet and kind and gracious. She loves God and people. She works as a Campus Missionary for our church, as I used to, so we have lots to talk about. She is now married to a guy named Vic - they are the couple that got engaged at church and that are also basically the cutest couple ever. Vic is a lot of fun, and together they are great to be around. 

The ceremony was outdoors in Port Moody

Ereka looked GORGEOUS 

Being joined by her Canadian "parents" - Keith and Arlene. 

Look! They're married! I love how very happy Ereka looks.

I love this shot of Vic as they walk down the aisle - it cracks me up!

After the ceremony the whole wedding was ushered into the theatre that was on the site and we watched the CUTEST introduction video of all time. They drew their relationship on a white board while narrating. I LOVED it. 

It is a great testimony to what God has done in their lives AND it's cute as all get out. 

Their wedding location was in the Port Moody city hall & library/theatre. It is a really sweet location. Ereka enlisted a bajillion friends to help and the place looked gorgeous. There was a team of 4 women and our husbands that ran the show. Normally I would say that is waaaay too many people but in this instance it was necessary and helpful.

They had a cute photobooth set up, as the theme of the wedding was Hollywood and Instagram - so they had a hashtag and were encouraging people to take and post photos. I was so busy running around that I was in hardly any pictures, but below is one of the ones I am finally in. And it's a gooder because I'm with a group of ladies I adore. How lucky I am to be surrounded by philipinos! Truly, God is good. 

Next up is an event that is a source of pride to Paul and a source of mild embarrasement and some fun for me. The bride and groom were a bit shy about kissing, so hoping that no one would volunteer to show them how, they set up the rules of a game: no clinking of glasses for a kiss - if you want them to kiss you have to get up and show them how! When Paul heard this his eyes lit up - I knew I had to give in. Below are some of the fuzzy camera shots people got of us - it was pretty fun. 

And I love that last frame - the looks on the bride and grooms faces are priceless.

All in all it was a wonderful wedding. Watching Ereka grow from a new christian, and timid new arrival in this country, into a strong godly woman surrounded by friends and a newly made family as such a treat. Watching Vic go from coming to church to look for girls (his words!) to being this strong supportive, godly man, is also such a gift. Vic and Ereka, I am so so so happy for the two of you - your wedding day was a treat - the dancing was awesome (as usual in thanks to Norman, haha), the stories were inspiring, and your love is beautiful to watch. Thank you for letting me share in your big day. Love you both. 

And now, it's back to regular life - a week with more weddings (Yay Sam and Stef!), more friends, more house full's and more goodness. 

Menu Plan Monday

Menu Plan Monday with Laura at Org Junkie

It's feels like fall - and normal life. School is starting up and life is beginning it's normal stride again. It's been a busy weekend doing a ton of projects and I've been spending the weekend doing catch up - including making a few meals for a dear friend (Dudu) who just had a baby - this meant I made a couple extra's types of each meal for us to eat at home to make the week easier for us as well. 

We don't have many plans this week but that doesn't mean there isn't lots to do - we made big leaps and bounds in our home and have some finishing up to do, so I want quick and easy meals - easy to serve to our household so that I can finish up at home when I'm not at work. 

Monday: Roasted Chicken, Zucchini Boats, steamed broccoli and Greek Quinoa Bake

It was a holiday so I had time to cook, and had a dear friend over for dinner and wanted to make something she could eat - so a gluten free meal was in order. Quinoa is usually my go to for gluten free. 

Greek Quinoa Bake: 

Prepare quinoa as directed on package. Dice peppers (and zucchini if you like) and saute with some diced onions and garlic and onion salt. Combine quinoa, sautéed veggies, crumbled feta and greek seasoning together. Bake for 15 or so minutes at 450. 

Tuesday: Chicken Casserole served with salad

This chicken casserole is one of the ones I made for Dudu and her family and then made a spare for our family. I add this recipe as a rough guideline but I am pretty free with ingredients. I always add canned corn, always use fresh steamed broccoli and rarely add diced onions. I usually use parmesan but sometimes use cheddar cheese. And I never use canned chicken always fresh shredded chicken - best if from a roasted chicken, like from costco. To quote Dudu (who tried the meal tonight) the dish is "the truth" - which I assume is a high compliment.

Wednesday: Mexican Pie

Mexican Pie is another of my go to recipes. I made a batch for Dudu and again made another batch for us. This recipe is fun for me because it changes depending on what is on hand - usually a bunch of different cans: corn, refried beans, pinto beans, diced tomatoes with chiles and more. I usually add salsa also. Then I get to layer it up! I always cut out the tortilla to fit the pan and then shred the cast offs of the tortilla into the layering mixture.  This is best served with guacamole, salsa and sour cream. 

Thursday: Thai Peanut Chicken Lettuce Wrap

This is a tasty meal that we love having - we'll have a couple wedding guests staying here and this is a fun meal to serve. 

Friday: Crockpot Cashew Chicken

Friday night we have a rehearsal dinner at our place so I needed to have something easy to serve our students that could be served from the side and not be in the way of the rehearsal dinner. Cashew Chicken is tasty and easy. 

Saturday: YOYO (You're On Your Own) 

Saturday is Sam and Stef's Wedding (wahoo) so our students are on their own. 

Sunday: YOYO (You're On Your Own) 

Sunday we have planned a photo shoot with my family while my mom can still smile for pictures - and randomely we also have a Morgan family photo shoot on the same day! 10am to 1pm we'll be doing the Morgan photo shoot in White Rock, and 3pm to 6pm we'll be doing our Mitchell family photo at Granville Island. Big day for smiles and looking good. Paul is going to HATE that day - that man is not a fan of photos. 

On a side note: I hate when bloggers explain why they haven't been blogging, as if our absences are so noticeable. It always seems arrogant. And yet, here I am, explaining my absence. But I am slowly editing photos and gathering my thoughts from the week, and more than that I'm working hard at work, working hard at home and resting when I get the chance. But I have quite a few blog posts brewing: E&V's Wedding, Camp 8 @ Anvil and Secretary Hutch Reno. Woo.