Nuggets: Jesse

We have been super busy this week, I can’t believe the week is almost over already. Not to mention that we have clinic tomorrow so today is really like our Friday. We’re looking forward to catching up on a few things this weekend, one of those things being some much needed rest and relaxation time.

I hadn’t really intended to make this post be about Jesse, but as I looked through the photos I had of the last week most of them included him.

:: I made this awesome dinner casserole that was made up from all the leftovers I had in my fridge. It was packed full of veggies including a tiny piece of onion, a little green onion, a few carrots, tomatoes, yellow squash and zucchini (these were fresh), and a bowl of leftovers peas. I mixed all this together will some ground beef and a few spices. I layered half of the mixture, a little cheddar cheese, the rest of the mixture, and topped it with more cheddar cheese and baked it long enough to melt the cheese. I wasn’t really sure if Jesse would want to eat it, but he LOVED it! All those veggies… yum!

Casserole

:: Every now and then we will have dinner at the coffee table to watch a TV show while we eat. We rarely do that, but this happened to be one of those nights. I carried the hot casserole dish into the living room to set it on the table and it slipped out my hands spilling all over the table, the table decoration, and the carpet. I was so upset with myself! We later concluded that the amount of tomato juice in the bottom of the dish must have been what made it so unbalanced. I must have tilted it just enough for the inertia of the juice to cause it to spill. My table decoration was ruined, covered in sauce and cheese and had to be thrown out. At least we were still able to eat the casserole.

Empty plate

:: I was most upset because the decoration was a birthday gift this year. After a while, Jesse made me realize that it really wasn’t that big of a deal since it was something that was very easily replaced. I was able to order a replacement the next day. Oooh… as I am writing this the door bell rang with the delivery of my new “orbs.” The plate is now refilled and everything is right again in our living room.

OrbsReplacement decoration

:: We are looking forward to participating in Outrun CF again this year. Outrun CF is a virtual race/fundraiser for Cystic Fibrosis. Runners can sign up and then run their own, individualized race wherever they want, for whatever distance they want. If you’re interested, it’s not too late to sign up. The shirt that comes with registration came in the mail this week. Jesse has worn it almost every day since.

Outrun CFJesse in new shirt

:: Most nights I will cook dinner while Jesse finishes up work for the night. Except for stir fry nights. Jesse is a great cook and stir fry is one of his best meals. I love having a break from cooking for stir fry night.

Jesse cooking

:: After several months of saving for a new computer, Jesse finally has his work station all set up the way he wants it. (Note: he’s wearing the orange shirt again.) He looks super geeky working over there with his three monitors and multiple keyboards. He says he can be much more efficient working that way, but it looks kinda confusing to me. I’m glad he’s happy, I love my geek!

Jesse working

Happy (day after) hump day everyone, hope your week has been great so far!

Nuggets: Headed Home

We are packing up our things, hoping to be on the road tomorrow morning. As much as I love being at the Sipes’ farm, I’m ready to be home to our normal routine. We’ve had a very good visit with Grandpa and Grandma. We’ll miss being with them as well as many other fun things that we’ve done here…

:: I’ve already said this, but I’m still excited about the super fresh produce that has shown up at the house.

Lots of tomatoes

Everything that has come has been extra tasty and I have thoroughly enjoyed them!

Huge tomato

I’m thinking that when I get home I’ll just sit in my own living room and wait for people to bring me over some veggies from their gardens. What do you think?

Red peppers

:: Since we ended up staying into September, Jesse ran out of a couple of his prescriptions. Of course our awesome CF coordinator, Sue, was able to call in what we needed to the local pharmacy. I like the cute, old-town look and feel of the Galion pharmacy.

Quay

:: We’ve been eating lots and lots of raspberries all week. They were on special for only $1 per pack, way cheaper than home. We made sure to enjoy plenty of them while we could.

Raspberries

:: Guess what else I found? Pepsi made with real sugar. Now, I know I can get this at home every once in a while when they decide to come out with it, but I decided to take advantage of it being on sale and buy some. The kind I usually buy is caffeine free so I’m happy to have the option of caffeine when I want it. Plus I’ve always preferred the taste of Pepsi.

Pepsi

:: I got a good gardening lesson yesterday. We walked across the street to Don’s to see how things grow.

Don's gardenYellow beans

Of course, I knew that carrots and potatoes and onions grow under the ground, but I’ve never actually seen them growing!

Onion

We saw all types of vegetables and even got to dig out a potato and a radish. We liked the tall sunflowers too.

Tall sunflowersRed sunflower

We came home with potatoes, turnips, a radish, tomatoes, and a cucumber… that I picked!

Picking from Don's garden

:: Jesse helped out with a lot of chores this week. The first time he mowed, he wore a tank top and completely fried his neck and shoulders. Yesterday, Grandma set him up with a long sleeve shirt and a hat to avoid him getting more sun on his sunburn. He looked like a regular farmer.

Farmer Jesse

Grandpa wanted to help Jesse clean out the mower properly when he finished. I thought this was a sweet picture of Grandpa catching a ride on the side of the mower down to the barn with Jesse.

Mower rideRide to barn

Jesse also fit in some trash burning. He was looking forward to that chore the whole drive up here. There is no trash pickup here, so that’s the way to get rid of it.

Trash burning

:: My chore has been cooking. We’ve really enjoyed having meals with Grandpa and Grandma. Jesse had one special request meal while we were here… Grandma’s beef and noodles. She made that for him yesterday so he could enjoy one of his favorites.

Beef and noodles

:: Lastly, more produce! There were boxes full of produce to greet us at church this morning. We were instructed to take plenty so that it wouldn’t spoil.

Church produce

A lot of our produce this week came from farmer Bill. He even had a few butternut squash set aside in his car especially for me. I can’t wait to try them when we get home. I told him I REALLY appreciated all these yummy veggies.

Me and Bill

We are coming home with enough fresh veggies to last us a while. My list includes: radish, turnips, potatoes, cucumber, tomatoes, red peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, and butternut squash. Hooray!

Produce to bring home

Happy Sunday 🙂

Nuggets: Summer Rain

Hump Day NuggetsHump day nuggets are just a few snapshots of our lives from the past week. I like the idea of documenting a few things that aren’t quite big enough to be a blog post on their own. The idea came from one of my favorite blogs to read, Dig This Chick. It’s hard to believe that we are half way through another week already and thinking about the weekend. This year is just flying by so quickly… where is the time going?

:: It has been raining almost non-stop for days on end. We have hardly stepped foot outside, it’s either pouring rain or blistering hot so we’ve been keeping busy with inside activities. The tall grasses that were growing along the side of our pond are nearly submerged now. I’m just glad we don’t have to brave the storms for a morning commute.

Rain

:: I love to be able to whip up a quick meal, especially on these lazy summer days. I’ve been trying to make sure I always have pre-cooked, ready to use ground beef in the freezer. It’s so much easier to cook a large amount all at once and it saves so much time when I go to use it.

Cooked beef

:: I’ve been continuing to eat more raw veggies since learning they are more nutritious that way. It does not take much veggies to make you feel full and stay full which makes them a great snack to munch on. They really reset your taste buds too, making fruit seem like a sweet treat instead of craving cookies or brownies.

Raw vegetables

:: We learned a new card game called golf. It’s kinda addicting, we played it with the family all afternoon on Sunday.

Golf

:: Our family dog is a little weird. I think most people consider their pets as part of the family, but we take that to the extreme. Ginger often performs tricks to get a treat. Ashley sat her at the table while we were playing cards and made her act nicely for a piece of CANDY! Ginger seemed to understand how much of a treat it was because she ate it from Ashley’s hand so gently and politely. This is normal dog behavior, right?

Ginger

:: We went bowling with our Bible study group. We often schedule a fun night after we finish the book or series we’ve been working on. I don’t think we had been bowling since around Christmas time. We should go bowling more often, I was a little out of practice.

Bowling

:: My free cook book came in the mail. I sent in the bar codes off of Namaste products I have purchased and got a cook book of new recipes to make with some of my favorite products. It looks like a lot of them were submitted by other consumers being creative with the products, I can’t wait to try them out.

Namaste cook book

Happy Wednesday!