Good thought for Tuesday.

LOVE this blog by Starfield today, about being led by the spirit. Deciphering God's will for my life has been such a big thing, and continues to be... especially at this point in my life. In the past few years, I've learned a little and seen the fruits of what Jon blogs about: stepping out in faith and confidence, trusting that I have done due diligence through prayer and trying my best to listen to that Still Small Voice. But I feel like it's something I am continually learning, and will never really quite get adept at. Agreed?

"The most, productive, free, and respectable people I know seem to have one thing in common, they don't obsess over the will of God in their lives. Instead, they live with confidence and freedom, trusting that God is leading them."

Black-eyed pea soup

I've had these packages of dried beans and black-eyed peas in my pantry since forever.... my mum brought them for me when she came to visit but I've never known what to do with them. Lucky for me, Laura knew exactly what to do! We have grand plans for my dried green mung beans when the weather gets really cold, but this weekend she taught me to make a soup/stew with black-eyed peas. I'm eating my first bowl right now and it is delicious!! Of course, I left my camera in my office at school so there is no photographic evidence. Next time! :)

This recipe is so flexible. You can incorporate just about anything into it, so it's a very good way to clear the fridge. Try it soon! It's the perfect autumn food. Here's (roughly) what we did:

1. We rinsed about 1 cup of black-eyed peas, and soaked them overnight.

2. Next day, I sauteed red and green peppers, onions, garlic (lots!!), and jalepenos with Italian sausage. I added black pepper and some salt to the veggies.

3. When the sausage was fairly cooked through, I deglazed the pot with chicken stock. Then I dumped in the black-eyed peas (and the soaking water too), added ginger and more garlic, then added more chicken stock until the peas, veggies and meat were just covered.

4. Turn the burner on max. When the soup comes to a good rolling boil, turn it down to med-high and simmer. At this point I was snacking on celery and decided to throw some celery leaves in too!

5. Put the lid on and let it simmer until the beans are as soft as you want it. I kept checking the pot every 15 min or so (I couldn't wait to eat!) and at one point decided to add some Belizean spices in there too.

And that's it! Hopefully you can tell from my sort-of directions.... this is an anything-goes recipe. Have fun and enjoy!

Peeks from the phone || Hello, 3am

Things happen every day and we often use our phones to document them! 'Peeks from the phone' is meant to be a low-key way to capture life as it happens. It could be one photo or more; it could come with a blurb or let the title say it all! Join in the fun if you choose, and please leave a link in the comments if you do!

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My wild and crazy (ok, perhaps just crazy) Thursday night.

Peeks from the phone || Princess Sammie-Whammie

Things happen every day and we often use our phones to document them! 'Peeks from the phone' is meant to be a low-key way to capture life as it happens. It could be one photo or more; it could come with a blurb or let the title say it all! Join in the fun if you choose, and please leave a link in the comments if you do!

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Sammie (aka "Sammie-Whammie"/ "Princess Sammie"/ "Sweet Girl"/ "Girly-girl"/ any combination thereof) is the other four-legged member of our little family and belongs to Laura. She likely gets the credit for building my immunity to cats. She is a total sweetheart that purrs at the drop of a pin! A couple of days ago, Miss Sammie came home from a week-long vacation in Dallas. She was glad to be home, and I was glad too! We had an "I've missed you!" snuggle after I got home from school.

So happily rolling around that she nearly falls off the bed..... silly.

Hello. :)

Excuuuuse me, that's my toe you're sinking your claw into!

The worst time to be inspired......

Oooh I hate it when that happens, don't you? When you have a big school/work/other deadline, and all you can think about are other side projects you would much rather get out of your system?

Right now, I would much rather be doing some of this:

(source)

Or making one of these:

(source)

Or baking. It has occurred to me in the past few days that it has been AGES since I've baked anything sweet. We generally say that Lauren is the baker at our house, but I've been missing putting on the baker's hat myself! I would love to try making these:

(source)

Or getting out with my camera. I haven't picked up my baby in earnest for awhile, and I saw some beautiful possibilities driving home last night. The countryside at sun-down.... have I mentioned lately how golden and lovely it is?

Sigh. Now if only the promise of getting to do these projects once my draft is done were enough motivation........ ;)