Kitchen Staples Make Me Feel Like a Grownup

This may come as a surprise, but lately I've been feeling more and more like a grown up.  (Mind you, I've been out of my parents' house for seven years, worked a full time job for three and have been married almost one.)  But it didn't really hit home with me until lately, in my own kitchen.

I'd been eyeing this Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Loaf online, and this week seemed like a great time to make it.  So as I was assembling our grocery list, I quickly realized the only things we actually needed to complete this recipe were plain yogurt and a lemon.  That's it!

That means that I didn't have to go to the store to buy eggs, flour, sugar, Vanilla or anything else that it called for.  Typically, I would need to go to the store to buy all of those things, any time I wanted to make something from scratch.  (Which wasn't that often, so I'd just buy the smallest amount possible.)

Yesterday, I stood in my own kitchen and scooped those dry ingredients right out of the canisters we registered for, and strolled over to the pantry and fridge for the rest of my ingredients. 

Call me crazy, but I felt like Superwoman.

And to make it even better, the bread was actually delicious.  (Sometimes this is also a feat when i make something.  Remember Amelia Bedelia.)

So here's the recipe that made me feel like I could conquer just about anything.  At least for a few hours.  I would highly recommend it.

Source: sweetpeaskitchen.com via Shay on Pinterest

A New Development at the Paulson's

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Well, I'm pretty sure neither one of us pictured 2012 with the words "Back to School" in them, but it's August, and yes...Adam is going back to school!  

Road Trip to Iowa

A few weekends ago, we had the opportunity to get up to Iowa.  Adam's grandmother, Ida, passed away right before we went to Guatemala, and the service was while we were gone, so we weren't able to be there.  That being said,  it was really nice to get away and spend time with family.

We drove Etta the Jetta, and she served us well--31 miles per gallon!  Rye dog did great in the back seat.  We stopped often, not knowing if he would need to go or not, but he proudly did his business in every state from Texas to Iowa!  Ha.  

Sleeping in the back seat--his perch for 13 hours.

We stopped for lunch at Chipotle in Wichita, Kansas, which was our half-way mark.  We spent time outside enjoying the cooler weather, rather shocked that there was a place fairly close that wasn't 110 degrees!

We finally got to Iowa, and the last two hours were the most challenging.  We both just wanted to BE THERE ALREADY!  But after 13 hours, you wouldn't blame us, right??

Mike and Norene had dinner ready and waiting for us, and then we spent time on the back porch.  I grabbed a jacket and was quite happy sitting out there bundled up.  Mind you it was about 75 degrees...

We went running at a nearby nature preserve that I'd never been to before with AMP and Rye.  It was beautiful weather (have I mentioned that??), and I happily ran for the first time ever in Iowa.  (Fourth time there, and we've never run!)

Norene and I also ventured over to Pella, about 30 minutes away, to visit this Dutch town square.  We shopped at antique stores, grabbed some lunch and ate in the park, and got to go to "Silver Lining," which happens to be a cute little shop owned by the aunt of my good friend, Lyndsy.  (It's a small world!)

We also got to go to the bakery there, and came home with some amazing goodies.  Puff Pillow Pastries are awesome.  As is the apple bread and pretty much anything else they make.  

My brother-in-law, David, and I reached a new level in our friendship...we shopped together.  True story.  He was heading to Vegas the following weekend and wanted some new clothes, so we drove about an hour to the outlet mall and found some really good stuff and great deals.  Hard to go wrong at Banana Republic and Gap!

AMP's friend, Dave, and his family, live about an hour away, and we wanted for us to all hang out.  AMP's parents made a great meal, and we all enjoyed hanging out.  

Me and Mr. J.  So cute!

Mike & Norene surprised their boys by pulling out some of their old toys.  This doesn't surprise me one bit that they kept this stuff around.  :-)  Love it!  All the boys (big and little) played with the trains, trucks and toys.  

Rye did really well with Mr. J.  We think it was surprising to Rye to have a person at his same eye level.  Rye was super sweet with him and let him climb all over him.  (Our pup also got along great with Sadie and Shelby while we were there, and he also learned to master the stairs!)

Woohoo!  I finally got to meet Elizabeth and J.  Group photo.

Sunday night before we left, AMP and Norene played UpWords.  While we were there, I also got to see her classroom, which I loved.  (Still love classrooms.  What can I say?!)

And it's no surprise that we ate really well while we were there--pork tenderloin, "Beer Butt Chicken" and Ribs.  (Are you hungry yet?  I am, just thinking about it!)

It was a bummer to leave, for sure.  I finally learned my lesson and got to Iowa with the right layers of clothing, and we actually had enough time to hang out, play, shop and eat (a lot).  We really loved coming home to Iowa, and are grateful for the chance.  Hopefully we can get back up there soon!

BSB Weekend

Another BSB weekend has come and gone!  This was our first year to go as a married couple, and I think Adam appreciated not being the "new blood" this year.  :-)  There were more new additions to the group who will be marrying into the fold in the next several months.  It was fun to welcome them and, in some cases, meet them for the first time.

This year, we went out to Canton and stayed in small cabins.  They were really nice.  We affectionately called them Doll Houses, because they were quite tiny!  But they did the trick, and it was nice to not be stacked on top of each other in a lake house or two.  

Not everyone was a fan of the drive...namely those from Houston, since it was about a five hour drive for them, so I'm sure next year all the Dallas-ites will be going somewhere towards their neck of the woods.  That's the joy of planning it when it's your turn.  The other years you just show up!

Here we are all at dinner on Friday night.  The "kids" all came at different times because we were working.  (Kids...working...)

The Moms

The "Kids"

The Dads

Madeleine was the youngest BSB attendee this year.  We had a lot of fun hanging out with her!

Saturday, some of the guys golfed or hung out at the pool, while the girls shopped in Canton.  We played Bingo and Reverse Charades that night after dinner together.  For games, it wasn't too torturous.  Except that our team lost.  Lame.  

This was at dinner on Saturday night--we were missing our Rye dog, but found some Rye Bread.  :-)

Sunday morning, we always have a little worship service and a "launching" for the high school grads.  I helped lead the group in a couple of songs, and since no one there played the guitar, I'd asked Troy to record an accompanament for us.  We had some technical difficulties, but we made it through. 

Since there aren't any more high schoolers in the bunch, we just recognized the college grads and then the Flaggs asked several people to share about the mission trips they've been on.  We had about six different people share their experiences, and it was really cool to hear more about what they do.  Adam got to share about our Guatemala experience, and he did a great job!

Here's to another Baylor Summer Bunch weekend!

Friends of Summer

Well...I hadn't intended on taking a summer break from blogging, but it appears that's exactly what happened!  We've been super busy on the weekends, it seems like, spending time with lots of different friends.  Here's a little recap of the early part of July with some of our buddies.  More to come!

Our friends from church have family with a houseboat, and they invited us to come over and hang out. We spent the night on the boat and were surprised with fireworks just over our head after dinner!  I've never been on a houseboat and hadn't accounted for the rocking motion, haha.

They also have a ski boat, and Adam got to drive for a bit. 

(He's rockin' my sunglasses just so he can see!)

This is the houseboat!  Our friends Jordan and Brooke are in our young married class at church.  We love hangign out with them and are excited to meet their baby boy in October!

One of the definite highlights was getting to see my dear friend and mentor, Emily.  She and her family just moved back to the states from Scotland, where her hubby Josh spent the last four years in seminary working on his masters and PhD.  They spent a month in Texas before moving to Spokane, Washington.  We're hoping to work in a visit up there sometime in the future! 

I met up with Emily and her kids at a nearby Splash Park.  This is her third baby, Lizzie, who is just a doll.  You can tell that being a Mama brings Emily great joy! 

Love me some Emily!  So blessed by her over the last ten years (Can't believe it's been that long!).  I'm glad to have her in the states again. 

Joey and Amanda came up from Houston another weekend, so we hung out with them and Rich & Megan Roush one evening at Uncle Julio's.  My aunt Laura's house is nearby, and they weren't home, so she offered us her house so we could hang out some more.  It was really nice because we just got to sit around and chat and watch the Olympics!

{Joey, Amanda, Rich, Megan, me and AMP}

Sunday afternoon, all four of our dogs met up at the dog park, which was pretty funny.  It was super hot, so we didn't stay too long, and the dogs all kind of did their own thing.  I guess we thought they'd all play together, but there were too many smells!

Fun memories with sweet friends all around.  Love!

How We're Rollin' this week...

Sweet things this week...

Came home from work on Wednesday to these beautiful hydrangeas, a clean kitchen, grocery shopping done and dinner already decided on. What a treat! We had so much fun making dinner together and just hangin'. So good.

Had to decline a wedding invite, but I got to write "Mr. and Mrs. Adam Paulson." 

Still never gets old.

Snuggin' with Rye dog on the Purple couch, reading the new Ikea Catalogue.  Sweet pup.

Receiving a letter from our Compassion Sponsor child, Juliet.  She's 9 and lives in Uganda!

Happy Friday.  Looking forward to the weekend again!!