I'll Be Your Emmylou

 My brother, Casey, and I have always seemed to butt heads. As children, almost every interaction involved fighting and crying. We spent one year of high school together-- his senior year, my freshman. There was little interaction between us that year, but it was nice knowing he was there considering my tendency towards homesickness. That being said, there were still times during our childhood when Casey could seriously be the sweetest big brother. I remember once he even bought me a Barney purse for my birthday. I found out about it and he got really mad at me, but still. As we have gotten older we get along much better-- that is, except for one area: those I deem worthy of his time and affection. In the past, there have been precious few (if any) girls whom I have considered to be good enough. Until now. 

Last Saturday family and friends gathered to celebrate the wedding of my brother Casey and his beautiful bride Kate. Their country style ceremony and reception took place in a field next to an old, wore down barn. Everything about it was beautiful, fun, and quirky, just like the happy couple. To say that I am happy for my brother would be a complete understatement. Knowing Casey, it is obvious that Kate was the one he was looking for far before he knew it himself. Seeing him so happy makes me happy,especially having witnessed the long search for him to find her. Kate fits in so well with our family and she fits so well with Casey.

Here's to Casey and Kate and a lifetime of happiness full of babies.

Summer To-do List

1. Color Run in Racine, WI.
2. Chicago Art Museum.
3. Blueberry picking.
4. Canoe Trip.
5. Brother's wedding.
6. Read books that aren't written well. And some that are. (book list to follow)
7. Fly a kite.
8. Go to the beach.
9. Hike at the Dunes.

10. Try figure out what I should do with my life.

American Honey

Since summer is officially over, as of today, I feel the need to send it out with one of my favorite summertime songs. I like this song especially because it reminds me of my own up-bringing. And now, because I tend to be wishy-washy, I feel as though I let the summer pass by without truly enjoying its beauty. I guess it can be hard to see the beauty in sitting at a strawberry stand in 87 degree weather; although I am sure it is there somewhere.

Gone for so long now, I gotta get back to her somehow; to American honey.

Here We Go Again.

I have been extremely negligent in my blogging this summer. Since I haven't updated for the past three months I'm finding it rather difficult to condense the whole summer into one post. But I will because 1. I am lazy; 2. School has already started and I massive amounts of reading to accomplish; 3. nothing terribly interesting happened this summer. However, it was, over-all, a pretty great summer.To kick it all off my very generous brother and sister-in-law let me tag-along with them on a vacation to Florida! I got to babysit my niece, Morgan, and lay out at the beach.

On the way home I stopped in Milwaukee to spend some time with my friends, Mariel and Allison. Mariel showed us all around Milwaukee. We spend an amazing day together, despite a insistent, not to mention old, business man from "out of town."

I got to spend some time at home, which was greatly needed and always appreciated. My sister and I rode bikes quite a bit.

I had planned on taking a math course over the summer, but it fell through and I was left with nothing to do and no money to do it. Luckily, my friend Ally hooked me and my sister up with a job in Green Bay picking and selling strawberries. It ended up being almost as fun as it looks in the picture. Staying with Allison and her family was amazing. Their hospitality is beyond measure.
The farm we worked on is called Sunny Hill and they really do have the best strawberries (not to mention corn) in the area. Surprisingly, I didn't get sick of eating them.

Josh Groban came to Green Bay. I am seriously at a loss for words to describe how amazing this concert was. He puts on SUCH a great show, and I love him.

Six Flags! It was great, but the older I get the harder this place is on my stomach. Superman was pretty awesome though. Also, why the heck did they get rid of Dejavu (sp?)?!

And now for the "fun" part. Fall semester 2011 has officially begun. Strangely, it feels good to be back. One of my professors went off in class about how much she loves being in school; the structure, environment, ect. While I really want to be done with school (mainly so I can start paying off my loans), I can definitely understand her point of view. After going to school for 15 years it pretty much becomes a comfort zone. What isn't comfortable about this semester is my work load. Below is an incomplete book-list for my two Literature classes. Add Psychology, Spanish, and a religion course chock full of busy work and I have a complete load.
However, I am prepared:
So that's that. And maybe when I feel more inspired I will write more. As can be expected, "What I'm Reading" posts are sure to come.

Summer Communication

I have been home for almost a month. Home is 8 hours away from Berrien Springs, MI. Michigan is where Sam has, and will be, all summer. If you know me, you know that I am a home-body. I love coming home. And I love my family. So when school is out it is always pretty obvious that I will return home for the summer; I'm always excited to be home for the summer. But this time it was different. Coming home meant leaving the one person with whom I really feel at home. "Home" is starting to take on a new meaning for me, I guess. It's weird, really, because I love everything about spending my summer with family, in Wisconsin, cooking, cleaning, biking, walking, doing yoga; but a constant piece of my heart is still in Michigan.

So, here is one perspective on my summer:

Thank goodness we can Skype :)

Swing, swing.

I'm out running (but mostly walking) this morning when I pass by the elementary school in Chetek. Across the softball field I can see all the little kids outside for recess. It takes me a second to realize that the children flying through the air are, indeed, on swings-- soaring through the crystal-blue sky with absolute, unadulterated, freedom and abandon.

Swinging is the best because it's everything in only two simple movements. A swing doesn't strap you in, but it still gives you something to hang on to(oh, the metephors!). Whoever invented the simplistic ease and excitement of the swing was a genius. And that is all I have to say.

I have had a bad case of the flu for about three days now. Fever. Coughing. Sore throat. Stuffy nose. Hot flashes. It's been pretty miserable, but I think I am finally getting over it. Friday night, amongst the sweat, coughing and trying to breathe, I had a dream. We were back on the farm and I was headed out of the house. As I walked out the door I had a quick conversation with my brother Rob, and continued towards the barn . I was wearing my favorite jeans and my rubber boots, and my hair was pulled back into a ponytail. I helped move some cows and I could smell the barn... and the hay. It was a really, really nice dream.

2010 In A Nutshell

You know when old people tell you that time goes quicker the older you get? Well, I think that might be true. When I was little a week seemed like eternity. But this year has really flown by. Really. Since the new year is quickly approaching, I thought it would be appropriate to do a bit of a recap of 2010. The good has definitely outweighed the bad and I'm very thankful for all the experiences I've had and all the people I have shared them with. So here goes:

January: Sam and I ventured out one Sabbath afternoon to St. Joeseph's Beach. We were really glad we did because the ice caves were so cool! The entire pier was covered in ice, including this lighthouse.

February: Celebrated our 2 year anniversary on the 16th. Sam hid clues all around his apartment that ended in P.S. I Love You and probably the sweetest note I've ever received in my whole twenty years.

March: Over spring break Sam and I flew out to Washington State and I met my beautiful niece for the first time. And I have loved every minute of being her aunt ever since.

April: The 30th marked the very last day of my first year at Andrews University. This month brought SO many beautiful flowers and blossoms. Also, I started writing this blog which I must say I have enjoyed immensely.

May: The first month of my amazing summer at home! And also my beautiful little sister's high school graduation. She's all grown up *tear*

June: The highlight of June was, of course, campmeeting. This year I got to see my cousin Zoe who isn't able to attend very many family get togethers. My sister and I used to babysit her all the time when she was little and we miss having her around very much. But we were very grateful to spend some time with her.

July: This month was packed full of family and lots of fun. My grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Pretty much the whole family was able to come and as you can see, it's really hard to fit us all in front of one backdrop. Of course july included fireworks and my grandfathers birthday party spent at the lake with lots of summer food and water tubing.

August: Got to see my one of my oldest friends! We were inseparable since we met in Sabbath School but sadly her family moved to the west coast when we were in the 5th grade (I think). We hadn't seen each other in years so I had to take a picture because this never happens.

I also got to spend some time with my favorite girls, hanging out in Chicago. It was splendid and I can't wait to see them again in 2011!

September: It's really sad that a whole month can go by without anything noteworthy happening... but it did.

October: Fall break was spent back at home and included a shopping trip of epic proportions. However I don't have any documentation of it. Sad day. I need to take more pictures. I resolve to do that in 2011, haha.

November: The Adelante Banquet! Which is basically a banquet that the spanish club at school puts on every year. Why, you may ask, did we attend being that we are not in any way spanish? I couldn't tell you. But we convinced some of our super cool friends to come with us and it was a great night.

December: There were many highlights this month, I might just do a whole separate blog. I have, however, narrowed it down to these two. My niece turned one year old! Seriously. Time flies.

Highlight number two was my families annual Polish Christmas Dinner. We eat all kinds of amazing things like perogie, golumpki, polish sausage with sourkraut and cream puff desert. The latter isn't really polish, but it's still super delicious and worth mentioning.

There it is, 2010 in a nutshell. It was really hard to pick out the best things from this year because there really are so many great memories. It may sound extremely cliche, but I feel uber blessed with the life, family and friends God has given me. So here's to the end of a spectacular year and the beginning of another.

Summer in a Nutshell

What is it about school that makes me excited and anxious and dreadful all at the same time? Here I am again getting ready for another school year. It seems crazy that I'm already headed into my third year of college. This summer has been really great, and I truly did need it. I can't say that I accomplished everything I hoped to, but I learned alot about cooking, my family and myself. I'm sad to leave home. Especially since I won't be coming back for more that a couple weeks at a time. Here is Summer 2010 in a nutshell:

pie. fresh basil. painting. baking. swimming. anniversaries. sweet little girl.

fairs. family. bikes. boyfriend. driving. water parks. chocolate. rain. sweet corn.

green beans. love stories. farmers market. books. cousins. concerts.

cleaning. babysitting. cookies.

laughing. loving. learning. growing. praying.

My last care-free summer is coming to an end; it's bittersweet. Tomorrow I start the 8 hour trip to Michigan... to work... to classes. But I'm anticipating great things for the next school year and the beginning of my adulthood life. Things like meeting new people, enjoying all my english classes, my new job, being with my best friend, spending time with old friends and growing closer to God. Here's to Summer 2010 and here's to the start of another school year.

The Sweetness

I don't have much going on at this point in my life. I'm home for the summer, and my mom is laid off for the summer. Today we were very productive. We baked. French bread to go with our fresh bruschetta and sweet rolls. Both turned out tasty and delicious, but the sweet rolls were especially amazing. I think it's safe to say they're the best I've ever had (please don't tell my grandmother). So here is the recipe, I strongly suggest you try it the next time you crave more than cereal for breakfast. It comes from what has been my favorite cookbook since I was 12, "Let's Bake, The Robin Hood No-Sift Way" copyright 1964.

Basic Sweet Dough:
4 1/4- 4 3/4 cups flour1/2 cups warm (not hot) water
2 packages (2 Tb) active dry yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. salt*
1/3 oil
2 eggs

Soak yeast in 1/2 cup warm (not hot) water 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of flour, milk, eggs. Add another cup of flour followed by the oil, salt and sugar. Add remaining flour.
Knead until dough becomes smooth, elastic and no longer sticky (5-10 min). Place in lightly greased bowl, grease top of dough. Let rise until doubled. Punch down.

Sticky Bottom's:

Melt 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of butter, 4 tsp of water. Spread across bottom of pan.

Roll out sweet dough. Spread melted butter across, sprinkle with brown sugar, and cinnamon.

Roll the dough up, divide it and place it in your pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for approx. 25 min.

Pull from oven, flip the rolls over onto a plate or pan cover.


Frosted Sweet Rolls:

Roll out dough, spread melted butter over it.

Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon.

Roll the dough up and divide into equal parts.

Place rolls into greased pan.

Bake at 375 for approx. 25 min.


The Most Amazing Frosting You Will Ever Eat:
1/2 stick of butter
2/3 stick of cream cheese
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract

Blend together and slather onto cinnamon rolls!

Not The Time

Today my family and I went over to my Aunt Corinne's house. It was a great time with family, as it always is. We ate (burgers, hot dogs, watermelon; all that amazing summertime food), we talked, and everyone mooned over the new baby in the family.

On the drive home we took the long way, through all the towns and places my parents grew up and spent their teenage years. It was a long day for the little one. She was tired. Tired of sitting in her car seat. She screamed endlessly (besides the five seconds between when she found her thumb) until we finally arrived home. I am thoroughly enjoying the time I'm getting to spend with my ridiculously adorable niece, but if nothing else it makes me realize that I am no where near wanting one of my own. As I see the selflessness my brother and sister-in-law possess, it makes me see my one selfishness. There's a time for everything and I have no doubt that when that time comes I will have what it takes to be a loving selfless mother; but I feel like now is not that time.

Tuesday we are headed to Noah's Ark Waterpark. I have a feeling the baby will stay at home.

Current Obsession

I've never been a big gardener, and I never really give much attention to things like flowers, plants and trees; but something about this last spring has really made me stop and enjoy them. It could be Andrews University's blooming campus after a long winter, or maybe as I get older I'm starting to take notice of the little things. My first obsession came in the spring as was held by the brilliant shades of red, yellow, orange and pink Tulips. Now that summer is in full swing I am in love with peonies. Big, beautiful and deliciously fragrant, it is safe to say they are my favorite summertime flower. So here's to flowers, just because they make me happy.