Have your pie (and be the baker too!)

Growing up, I always had dreams of being a wife who would cook long, detailed meals and sit down with my husband and family to eat on our nicest china while we savored the fresh ingredients and the homemade desserts I spent all day slaving in the kitchen to create.

  Wait a second.... ACTUALLY... that wasn't me at all.  Not even close. Growing up, I used to pretend that my stuffed animals were people and I would spend copious amounts of time asking them about their problems, giving them solutions and helping them find their way back into bear-happiness-land.  I was also always outside, running around with my brothers, exploring new things, taking risks and jumping off anything high I could find. I used to climb onto my tall roof at night with a notebook and pen in my backpack, writing poems and stories and journal entries and being utterly fascinated with the world around me. 

 One my favorite pictures from childhood is set at the Grand Canyon:  a nine year old Julie with one leg over the fence, leaning toward the canyon right below a sign that says "DANGER: DO NOT CROSS" and my (understandably concerned) dad, a blurry figure in the foreground, running toward me, trying to keep me from "exploring" the edge of the cliff.  So naturally, when I got married, I was a little behind in the "domestic" skills department.  I was much more interested in exploring my surroundings and other people's hearts and minds than exploring my kitchen.  

However, over the past year and four months, some things have changed.  I've decided to give this whole "cooking and baking" thing a try.  And just in case you are interested in giving it a chance as well, I'm posting three desserts and a dish I made over Labor Day Weekend over the next few blogs...  Like I said, I'm a novice, so these are EASY to make but they absolutely DELICIOUS.  Think of it as an adventure in cooking, if you will...

 MY FIRST CHEESECAKE (BAKING) EXPERIENCE....

Strawberry Cheesecake Shortcake 

Ingredients:

8 ounce pkg cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup lemon juice

Store bought shortbread crust (see picture below)

Strawberry Topping

1 package of fresh strawberries, sliced into small pieces

1 package of strawberry filling (usually in the produce aisle or near the strawberries)

Instructions:

Make sure cream cheese is softened to keep pie from being lumpy.  

Place cream cheese, condensed milk, sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla in mixing bowl. 

Beat on medium until filling is creamy and smooth. 

Spread into pie crust and cover. 

Refrigerate 45 minutes. 

While refrigerating, add 3/4 chopped strawberries to bowl with full package of strawberry filling.  Keep about 4 strawberries (approximately 8 large sliced pieces) aside for decor.  After 45 minutes of chilling and strawberry filling made, retrieve pies and top with  filling and strawberries for garnish.  

Return to refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Serve cold (don't expect it to get really firm- serve it straight from the fridge). 

Standard Picture of my first homemade cheesecake

Cool Instagram Picture:)

Weekend Trips, Creating Margin and Self-Care Strategies

As summer draws to a close, we celebrated with a few last minute weekend trips.

Florida WHERE? 

The weekend before I began my Internship at Ridgeview Institute , Daniel and I took a spontaneous road trip down to Florida.  We didn't know WHERE in Florida until we began our journey.  This classic quote the recounts our last-minute decision making process:



Me (as we are driving on 75S): "I know this is our spontaneous beach trip and all but we need to know which side of Florida we are going to..."
Daniel: "Panhandle is 85S and Atlantic ocean side is 75S" 
Me: "When do we need to decide by?"
Daniel: "Ummm... in one mile"


We decided to head to the Panhandle because of the weather forecast.  After a quick dinner at Outback, a small shopping trip and a little over 6 hours of driving, we arrived at St. George Island late on Thursday night.  We spent a few hours there and then drove up the coast to Panama City Beach to arrive right before the sun rose.  We grabbed a quick bite at Waffle House and then headed to the beach to watch the sun rise.  


After the sun came up and since we had been driving all night (and were now thoroughly exhausted), we checked into a local hotel early, showered and took a quick nap.  The rest of the day was spent at a local beach park enjoying each other's company along with the sun and ocean.  Friday evening, we had dinner and then relaxed at the hotel.  Saturday was spent at the beach and then we decided to head back in the afternoon to prevent any more all night-driving.  We dropped off our stuff at home around 8 pm and went to see "Crazy, Stupid, Love" with my cousin.  Sunday was a catch up day and that concluded our whirlwind weekend! 

Breakfast at 5 am on Friday morning after driving all night- clearly exhausted

Dinner

Cliche beach jumping picture 

Our spot :)

Lakehouse and New Friends 

Our final trip for the Summer was last weekend, where we gathered with a small group of mostly new friends at Lake Martin.  We rode Jet Ski's, wakeboarded (well... sort of - the board broke on one of our friend's first rides), kneeboarded, tried to ski :), had deep conversations and random ones, grilled out and had a "make-your-own pizza" night.  It was overall very refreshing and peaceful and I'm thankful for the relaxing time with great friends!

On the Jetski

Creating "Margin" in our Busy Lives

These next few months are very intense for each of us professionally.  Dan is preparing for a large scale event in October and I have started a time-consuming and emotionally-consuming Internship role as I'm continuing to take classes.  We are still seeking to create margin in our lives for relationship and connection, because I know that is one of the first things that goes when I'm stressed out.  I've realized how important it is to stay connected even when life seems to be running a thousand miles a moment.  It's friends and community who help keep us grounded, give us a broader perspective and keep us from curling up into a selfish ball of self-induced expectations, achievements and/or excessive striving.  The world doesn't stop when our lives get busy, and it is my prayer that we stay intentional to connect with a few close friends during this upcoming "busy" season and step out of ourselves as often as possible.  We may not be social butterflies during this time, but there are a few friends where continuity of relationship is so very important, so dropping off the face of the planet for a few months simply isn't possible (as much as my independent and introverted self may be tempted).

Self-Care

At the same time as I am seeking to stay accountable to a few relationships during busy times, I am learning the concept of "self-care" now more than ever.  I never really knew exactly what it meant, other than the fact that it appeared to be a "buzz-word" amongst those in the counseling fields.  I figured it meant taking the time to take care of yourself because, as a counselor, you are constantly taking care of others.  I do believe that is one definition of self-care, but I think the definition may be purposely ambiguous simply because self-care is so individualized in nature.  As unique individuals, we will each require different levels of self-care in the form of varying levels of alone time, relaxation techniques, conversations with friends and family and a number of other ways to prevent the burnout that often comes in helping professions.  Personality differences play a huge part in what "self-care" means to each individual. 


This concept was highlighted to me brightly a few weeks ago when I was listening to the radio and an annoying commercial came on the station.  My first reflex response was to lean over and change the station.  However, I was shocked because my first mental response stopped me with the (strangely rational but extremely strange) thought, "I bet a lot of people are annoyed with this commercial right now, which means a lot of people are going to change the station, which means the ratings may drop during this commercial, which means the creators of this commercial may get news that their commercial was annoying and they may feel bad about their commercial ".  I was seriously tempted for a moment to keep the station on to be ONE person who actually listened to the commercial and "gave it a chance" (I'm always rooting for the underdog ;)). 


 When I told Daniel about the incident, he was stunned (and quite frankly, I think he thought I was a little crazy).  It honestly shocked me as well, but it reminded me of a very important point:  I need to be extra careful to take the alone time I need and focus on self-care because of the compassion level I have been given and the ways it plays out mentally and emotionally in my life.  I'd encourage anyone reading this to take a few moments and reflect on ways you can take care of yourself- whether thats physically (eating right and exercising), emotionally (ending a destructive relationship or reaching out to a friend when stressed), spiritually (spending alone time with God and others who encourage you in your faith) or a myriad of other ways that are fitted to your needs at this specific time in your life.  The fact remains, if you don't take care of yourself, eventually you aren't going to be able to take care of others. 


So now, after a season of rest, I begin to run again.  We will be busy and it may be difficult to find balance at times, but it is our goal and our prayer.