Back in B-Town and Lovin' It

Has it really been since August 16th that I last posted? Well at least I never promised to be good at this blogging thing. We've been back in Bloomington, Indiana for almost two months now, and it is absolutely amazing to be home. I missed our good friends here, my kitchen, the farmer's market, and my shoes. Let's just say I got really tired of rotating through about 6 outfits this summer. Packing for four months in less than an hour doesn't bode well for variety in the wardrobe department.
Here are some pictures of us back in B-Town:

Jonah "just chillin'" on the couch. You wonder what he thinks when he sees Mike and I sitting on the couch; we must seem to be really enjoying it.

Jonah playing golf inside with Dad when Mom was gone.

To keep Jonah entertained one day while I was trying to get ready, I put a pair of his church socks on his hands. He loved trying to pick up things. And, yes that is my toothbrush in his mouth. Good thing it had the cap on it.

Jonah and Dad at an apple orchard just south of Bloomington. We picked lots of apples. Jonah was more interested in eating the rotten ones that had fallen off the trees, so we had to keep our eye on him. He loved being outside.

Mike made sure Jonah wore his overalls so he'd looked the part.


Jonah sitting in a tractor (at least I think it's a tractor) that was parked right outside of our apartment. I'm becoming more convinced everyday that I want to live on a farm.

Jonah opening a package of toys from Grandpa David and Grandma Nita. He'd just woken up from a nap and he was so dazed and confused when he opened up the toys. Maybe he thought he was still dreaming.

Jonah driving for the first time facing forward in his car seat. He had the funniest look on his face, like "Are you sure this okay Mom?"

We went to a pumpkin patch this past weekend and Jonah loved walking around the rows of pumpkins. He liked to sit on the pumpkins, pat the pumpkins, and pick up the smaller pumpkins and throw them. Good thing we never did have to find out if "You break it you buy it" was a pumpkin patch policy.

Here he is with his little friend Giana.

Jonah has taken to sleeping with a teddy bear Kathryn and Peter gave him. It is so cute to watch him cuddle up with it. He really hasn't gotten attached to any other toy, but his teddy bear. So sweet!

Mike is staying busy with school. He is taking finals this week to finish up the first 7 week semester. He is applying to Marketing Ph.D. programs. Didn't we just do this? Here is the list of schools we're applying to: (Don't you love that I put "we're applying to"? It really is a "we" thing though!!) From East to West here they are:
1. Columbia
2. Penn
3. Ohio State
4. Indiana University
5. Texas A&M
6. Arizona State
7. USC
We are excited to see what this next year will bring. I love that I have a husband who is willing to go after his dreams, no matter how daunting they may seem at times.

I have to also list a few recipes below for friends who have been waiting on me...Sorry Chris and Jenner!
Here are some of my new favorite Fall Recipes:

Curry Pumpkin Soup
Ingredients:
2 T. butter
2 medium onions, chopped (1 cup)
1 medium carrot, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 stalk celery, chopped (1/2 cup)
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (this usually consists of cinnamon and nutmeg; I eyeballed the amount of each b/c I didn't have "pumpkin pie spice")
2 (15 oz.) cans pumpkin
2 (14 oz.) cans chicken broth
2/3 cup water
1 cup half-and-half or light cream
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions:
In 4-quart Dutch oven (or big pot) melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, carrot, and celery. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add curry powder and pumpkin pie spice. Cook and stir 1 minute. Add pumpkin, broth, and water. Increase heat to medium-high; bring to boiling. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer covered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat; cool slightly.
In food processor or blender, add one-third of the pumpkin mixture at a time, cover, and process or blend until smooth. Return all pumpkin mixture to dutch oven.
Stir in half-and-half, salt, and pepper into pumpkin mixture; heat through.
Optional: Top with Cranberry Topper. This consists of 1/2 cup dried cranberries, 1 T. finely shredded orange peel, and 2 T. fresh Italian parsley.

Pumpkin Bean Soup
Ingredients:
1 T. olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. fresh ginger (I added 1 tsp. ground ginger)
2 tsp. curry powder
dash of cayenne pepper
1 (15 oz.) can pumpkin
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14 oz.) can whole kernel corn, drained
2 cups chicken broth
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the bell pepper and onion; cook and stir until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 5 minutes. Mix in the garlic, cumin, ginger, curry powder, and cayenne pepper. Cook, stirring, for an additional 2 minutes.
Pour in the pumpkin puree, black beans, corn, chicken broth, tomato sauce, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring the soup to a gentle boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered for 25 minutes.
Optional: Garnish with fresh cilantro and a dollop of unsweetened whipped cream. (I didn't do this and the soup tasted great without)

Apple Scones
Ingredients:
2 c. all purpose flour
1/4 c. white sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. butter, chilled
1-2 apples peeled, cored and shredded (I added 2 small-medium sized apples and was glad I did.)
1/2 c. milk
2 T. milk
2 tsp. white sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions:
Measure flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt into a large bowl. Cut in butter or margarine until crumbly. Add shredded apple and 1/2 cup of milk. Stir to form a soft dough.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead gently 8-10 times. Pat into two 6-inch circles. Place on greased baking sheet. Brush tops with milk and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Score each into a 6 pie-shaped wedges.
Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes or until browned and risen. Serve warm with butter OR (and this was Mike's idea) make a frosting of sorts out of apple juice and powdered sugar. It was delicious!!

Hope you all enjoy these yummy recipes. Happy Fall to One and All!!

Family Pictures

Mike's cousin Spencer works at a photography studio here in Minnesota, and when he offered to take our pictures for free we just couldn't turn him down. Even though I am a total stress case when it comes to getting pictures taken (this has only increased since Jonah came along...funny how that works) it was well worth it. Thank you Spencer!





He also took some pictures of just Jonah. What a sweet baby I have.

Jonah Turns 1!!

Okay, so Jonah's birthday was more than two weeks ago, but isn't this picture of Jonah stuffing his face with cake worth the wait?! We celebrated his birthday by taking him to the St. Paul Children's Museum. He loved crawling through the kid-size ant farm and watching the other little kids. He even took a few steps on his own. We headed home so Jonah could open his presents and, of course eat cake!



As you can see, I'm no Jeanette, but you can't go wrong with banana cake and cream cheese frosting.

Jonah's One Year Old Photos
While I was home in Utah visiting my family in July, Jonah had his pictures taken by Amanda Peterson. She did an amazing job, because I am pretty sure I didn't see Jonah smile once through the whole thing. Somehow she caught a few whiny faces and turned them into smiles. Thanks Amanda!

Way Down Yonder in Mississippi

We have been living in Corinth, Mississippi for almost a month now and we are enjoying life down South. We are staying in a bed and breakfast and love getting breakfast made for us everyday. It makes getting up early easy when you have warm biscuits, omelets, and/or pancakes and french toast waiting. We live in historic downtown where we are a stones throw away from gorgeous antebellum homes and lots of fun little boutiques and restaurants. With no responsibilities of a home I have enjoyed window shopping and I'm able to walk Jonah almost everywhere we need to go.

Our favorite activities in Corinth include:


Swimming at the ghetto Sportsplex

Swinging on every swing set in town

Shopping at Wal-Mart. Jonah has decided that he prefers to see where he's going, despite being buckled in. Jonah looks absolutely HUGE in this picture. He's chubby, but not that chubby.

Mike helps me stay sane by promising to take me away every weekend. So far, we have gone down to Birmingham, Alabama to visit my brother Dirk and his wife Marissa. We spent Mother's Day weekend with them, and Dirk and Mike fixed us a delicious dinner. Here's Mike's chocolate-banana cake.

He made it just for me, because he knows how much I love bananas and chocolate. It wasn't pretty, but it was delicious!
At church all of the women were given Gerber daisies. Jonah fell asleep with Marissa's broken flower on the way home.

Mike said he looked like a sweet dead boy. Sad, but funny.

This past weekend we went to Nashville, Tennessee. I'm not sure what we expected, but we weren't overly impressed with the country-style Vegas we found. I'm sure we would have had a blast at a concert, but unfortunately no one was playing the weekend we went.
Here are some pictures of our Nashville adventure:


Here we are at the famous Gaylord OpryLand hotel. It was like an amusement park inside complete with a river boat ride.

Mike just had to get a picture in front of this famous Dukes of Hazzard car. Don't ask me to tell you the name. Mike will have to update the blog to get this piece of T.V. trivia straight.

We enjoyed a riverboat cruise on the General Jackson steamboat. We were treated to a barbecue buffet, live band, and LOTS of drunk people.

After attending a small branch on Sunday, we headed to Bicentennial Park for a picnic. It was so warm that we stripped Jonah down to his onesie.

On Monday, we ate lunch at the famous Wild Horse Saloon. Famous for the country music stars who reportedly frequent the restaurant. We didn't see any, but supposedly Tim McGraw was seen there and Bon Jovi (I didn't know he sang country, did you?) Mike learned a line dance and we ate catfish and "award winning barbecue." Is it just me, or does every restaurant in the South have their own "award winning" BBQ?

Better Late Than NeverJonah's 6 Month Old Photos

So, Jonah had his pictures taken in February and I am finally getting around to posting them here. Maybe, it was the nightmarish ordeal of the photo shoot or the pushy photographer that made me delay, but nonetheless here they are for all to enjoy. 

The Greatest Egg Ever Laid

Mike, Kristin, and Bowling Ball Head (so named by his cousin) went to the farmer's market this Saturday to find some eggs and honey. While picking through the red wagon of eggs to find our favorites, we found the biggest chicken egg we have ever seen. The farmer noticed our stunned faces and simply stated, "Yup. We call those "Ouch" eggs." Well, we had to buy it. We tried to put it in the egg carton with the other eggs, but the carton wouldn't close. Here are some pictures.





And look what we found inside! Two yolks! No wonder it was so big! The egg was delicious. Mike ate it with some toast and Hoosier Wildflower Honey.


The End