Wordless Wednesday

Friends

My husband, Matt, is blessed to have some really good guy friends.  One of these guys is Ryan...

...a friend from high school

 

...and college.



A friend that gave a best man's speech at our wedding six years ago...



...and a friend Matt was able to do the same for this past weekend.

Congrats, Ryan & Christi!  We love you guys and sincerely apologize for the lack of wedding pictures in this post.  Chasing a 1-year-old around and being drugged up with cold medicine didn't really allow me to get the pictures I wanted.  This is the only one I got:

...though I think it sums you up quite well :)

Wordless Wednesday

Blogging for Books

I confess..I've struggled to finish a book since graduating from grad school.  It's not that I haven't read in five years, but getting to the end of any book has been somewhat daunting.  So, I've found something that will not only provide the books to read, but will keep me accountable to reading them (and reading them well!).  Blogging for Books is a book review program through Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing that sends bloggers books for free.  The catch is that you must post a review of that book within 30 days of receiving it.  Not bad, huh?

So, I'm being shipped Shattered Dreams by Larry Crabb, a book I've been wanting to read for awhile.  There were about 25 books offered to me to review.  A few that I'm planning to read in the future include:







Click here to check out this program and to sign up.  Wish me luck on my new reading adventure!

Snuggies...

...for dogs.

I'm speechless.

Christmas Picture Fail

About two weeks ago, I forced both my daughter and dog to do a Christmas photoshoot so I could order our Christmas cards.  I literally took 100 pictures.  Luckily, I did get a few cute ones.  I also got a few like this:


The wind is blowing 100 mph and you want us to keep our eyes open?



I don't even want to know what was going through her mind.



I think I tried making her sit in a pile of pokey pine needles. 
Nice going, mom.



Banana Bread

One of my fondest college memories is that of making banana bread with one of my roommates, Kristin.  Yes, we had the same name.  And yes, it sometimes got confusing when the phone rang and the person on the other end had no idea who they were talking to.  More often, I would get super confused and end up talking to one of Kristin's friends for awhile, afraid to tell them that I wasn't her.

Kristin had this super easy recipe for banana bread that I've kept over the years because not only does it turn out super yummy, but it is super easy to make for this non-baking girl.  Thought I'd share it :)

3/4 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. mashed bananas (about 3)
3/4 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
2 c. flour
1/2 c. chopped nuts (optional)
1 t. baking soda
2 t. vanilla
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt


Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease loaf pan.  Mix sugar, bananas, oil and eggs in large bowl.

 

Stir in remaining ingredients.



Pour into pan.  Bake until toothpick comes out clean (about 60 minutes).

Let cool 10 minutes, loosen sides, remove from pan and enjoy!