The Beautiful Life

Project 52–Week 9

This week’s theme is “you’re so creative.” Today my kids were playing outside and they gathered up a bunch of sticks to make a house. I’d like to think it’s a “tree sculpture.” LOL

And here’s a freebie for you for playing along. Click the image to download the full-size version.

Project 52–Week 8

This week’s theme is “Yum.”

And these are my boys enjoying some bacon on our front steps. They were so happy to be playing outside that they didn’t want to come in for a snack, so I brought it to them. I thought it was so funny that they just sat on the steps chewing away. LOL

And I’ve got a freebie template for you. Click on the image to download.

Have a great week!

Penne with Artichokes, Sun-dried Tomatoes & Sausage

Sunday at church, totally out of the blue, James invited someone to come over at eat lunch with us. Now normally, I would have been freaking out, but we had just been to the grocery store and my smart husband reminded me that we had the ingredients to make this yummy dish, which also happens to be quick and easy. I made some modifications because I can’t just follow the recipe. I used penne instead of fusilli because I like it better. I also left out the mozzarella and the parsley. A dash of dried basil works in place of fresh, if you don’t have any. And I didn’t have any white wine, so I just added a splash of rice wine vinegar to the broth. It gives it a different taste, but a nice kick that I like.

I also threw together a quick spinach, feta and red onion salad and tossed it with some olive oil and vinegar. It took less than 20 minutes, start to finish, fed us all with lots of leftovers, and gave us time to hang out and get to know our new friend. The best part of this meal is that you can always have the ingredients on hand for unexpected company or days when you don’t know what to have for dinner.

Practicing Hospitality

My sister and I have been reading this book called “Practicing Hospitality: The Joy of Serving Others” and loosely following along with the book study over at Passionate Homemaking. I’ve never been very good at “hospitality.” I think it’s a combination of us never having people over when I was a kid, and me being a recovering perfectionist. But the title of the book intriguied me, and it has a pretty cover, so I bought it.

I’ve just browsed so far, but what has really stuck out to me is the emphasis on changing our attitudes about hospitality. When I do have guests in my home, the focus is so often on getting the food just right, keeping the kids out of the toilet paper, making sure no one trips over toys on the way in, that I forget about why I’m having guests over in the first place. Is my goal to entertain for the evening and for everyone to just have a nice time? Or is my goal to show love? I’m not saying good food isn’t important, but maybe what is more important is meaningful conversation, making a deliberate effort to get past the superficial level that so many of us live in, at least in public. I want people to come to my house and feel loved and cared for, not just entertained.

Project 52–Week 7

With Valentine’s Day coming up on Saturday, we’ve got pink and red fever around here.  Pink makes me happy, and red makes me happy.  So when the two are together, I’m in love!  Last night we baked a bunch of cookies and cut out paper valentines for all of the kids’ friends.  They had tons of fun.  So for our P52 theme of the week, what could be better than “Love”?

Here’s my take on the challenge, a photo of some of the results of our efforts last night.  And I’ve got a little gifty for you, too. Download here.

Project 52–Week 6

This week’s theme is “play.”  And every who plays along with us this week gets a free Lightroom preset.  You can grab it here.

And here’s my photo: