Beauty at the Sea

           We first saw her 4 years ago, we were immediately captivated by her beauty.  She stood tall just a short walk from the waters tide.  The first time we saw her we were staying next door in a modest two bedroom townhouse, she towered over us and her modern details stood out in comparison to our 30+ year old townhome.  She had a lot to boast about, the exterior covered in windows, the way her roof curved to make the oceans, sometimes, furious winds still seem gentle, two huge balconies, one that had a rectangular pool another with a fire pit and lots of seating. 


          We have been fortunate to visit the beach a lot in the last 4 years and every time we drive down to look at the house we grew to love.   When we aren't at the beach we have dreamed about her too. Brian, my husband, found her on the internet and we have looked at her photos and again talked about how much we loved her.

         Last week we went on an "escape the snow" getaway to the beach.  We took the kids and enjoyed time away as a family.  The weather was warm enough that we were able to ride bikes the majority of our time there.  One afternoon I was trailing behind my husband and without him saying a word I knew where we were going.  We pulled into her driveway and immediately we both started grinning. As we walked the beach in front of her we couldn't help but notice that prettier, more modern, more amazing homes were being erected around her.  She had been such a standout and suddenly she was fading while others were being noticed. 

         The clear glass balcony was suddenly not so clear and a little more dingy, her white exterior had been hit with sandy winds a few too many times and they too appeared dingy.  While still a gorgeous home and a dream to be right on the beach I suddenly felt let down.  I started to say this to my husband when he spoke first "man the house has kind of gone down hill, huh?" he stole my words.  He felt the same way. 

         I then looked out to the ocean and was immediately reminded that the beauty of man fades, but things created by God, like the ocean, they remain majestic and beautiful forever.  I want to be less impressed with gorgeous beach houses and more impressed with the beach and the one who made it. 

Let Them Be Little

              

 

The nights your baby just won't sleep, the time your toddler decides to throw an Oscar worthy tantrum in the middle of target, Easter Sunday you put that brand new bubble on your baby boy and he immediately has a blow out ruining the bubble.  Moments like these leave you dreaming of them just a little bit older.  Nights where they sleep better, trips to target where they are mature enough to not throw tantrums,  Sundays where they are potty trained and make it to church in the outfit you had planned. 

 

 

She is headed out for her first date,  He is now 30 minutes late for curfew and isn't answering his cell phone, she has decided that being seen in public with her parents is as bad as having ebola.  Moments like these leave you reminiscing of the days when they were with you all the time.  These moments leave you longing for the time when she said she wanted to marry daddy, longing for the time when his only truck was a Tonka truck that he rolled up and down the sidewalk, wishing for times when she asked to hold your hand as you walked down the street. 

 

While babies and toddlers are hard, it only gets harder.  Appreciate the tenderness of these tiny souls and don't wish for another day.  For when another day comes you will surely miss these young times.   

 

 

Single On Valentine's

               For some, Valentine's Day can't go away quick enough.  Going to work is hard when it feels like all of your coworkers are being gifted with flowers and chocolates.  You open up Instagram or Facebook and immediately regret it.  Once again you are bombarded with pictures of couples in love and romantic gestures that have been done to your friends.  For the millionth time today you are reminded that you are single. 


            You are just about to cave into a dark place of self pity and binge on a bag of Doritos, but then you look at your phone and go through your contact list. Wow! You are suddenly reminded of the army of friends that you have.  While being single on Valentines is hard, knowing that you have great friends softens the blow.  You put the bag of chips back in your pantry and you decide to do something special for yourself! Buy yourself a massage, or chocolates or a new outfit.  Celebrate yourself and do something for yourself that you wouldn't normally do.


             Friends, just because you have a valentine doesn't mean that everyone else does.  If you have a friend that is single this Valentine's day I encourage you to get them a card, shoot them a text or bring them a coffee.  Everyone wants to be loved and those that are single need to be reminded that they are special and loved too. 

           


          

BBQ Nachos with Zucchini Chips

 

 

I was trying to do something different with zucchini other than pasta so I got the idea for nachos.  I had seen on pinterest a recipe for salt & vinegar zucchini chips.  When I saw that a light bulb went off and gave me an idea to make a play on BBQ nachos using zucchini chips.  These were a homerun at our house and we will have these again and again.  The best part is you can use any toppings you like so you can make them many different ways. 

 

 

 

First, to slice the chips, I used a mandolin.  You could use a spiralizer and do the largest spiral setting or a knife and slice the zucchini thin but the mandolin seemed the simplest way for me.  Now, I must warn you that mandolins can be dangerous so please use with extreme caution.  I did this while my kids were napping so that I could pay full attention to the task at hand :) 

 

 

Once you slice your zucchini chips layer them on paper towels so that the water that the zucchinis retain can be absorbed.  Place a paper towel on the top as well, let them sit for 10 minutes and then pat them dry with the top paper towel. 

 

Next spray a baking pan with nonstick cooking spray and then salt and pepper the entire pan.  Next, lay your zucchini chips on the pan.  Now, salt and pepper the tops of your zucchini chips.  Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes.  You may have to cook your chips in batches depending on how many you have. 

 

 

 

Start slicing and dicing any of your favorite toppings.  I went and got 1/2 a pound of pulled pork BBQ from our favorite BBQ place.  If you are cooking your own meat this would be the time to do that as well.  You could easily do chicken or ground beef.  Also these would be delish with just lots of veggies. 

 

 

 

Once your chips are done cooking put them on the plates and you are ready to start assembling your nachos. 

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

2-3 zucchinis

5 cherry tomatoes, quartered

1/4 cup shredded carrots

1 bell pepper, diced

1/4 cup black olives, drained and diced

1/2 cup shredded cheese

dollop of sour cream

dollop of salsa

1/2 lb of chicken, pulled pork or ground beef

 

These nachos were delicious and the best part is we did not have to feel guilty for indulging!! Enjoy!

Pad Thai with Peanut Butter dressing...Two Ways

 

 

          About a month ago we had a raw pad thai dish with a peanut butter dressing; it  was delicious and I have eaten it every week since I discovered it.  I have also tweaked the recipe and added in some things that made it taste better, in my opinion.  I found the original recipe on pinterest.  This week I wanted to eat the pad thai hot instead of raw.  Below I am going to share both recipes along with the curried shrimp that I made to serve over the pad thai. DELISH!!

 

 

 

The first step is to spiralize two zucchini's on the smallest spiral setting.  I purchased my spiralizer at Williams Sonoma and I have used it at least 5 times a week since I got it.

 

Next I prepped my other veggies.  Once this step is complete if you are making the raw pad thai you combine these veggies with your zucchini and add the dressing. So EASY!!

 

2 zucchini spiralized

1 red bell pepper diced

1/4 cup edamame (I buy the frozen kind that are already shelled)

1/4 cup chopped purple cabbage

1/4 cup shredded carrots

3 green onions diced

 

For the cooked version you will add all veggies except for the chopped green onion into a skillet with the zucchini and olive oil.

 

 

I used my electric skillet because of how much bigger it is.  The veggies only need to sautee for 5-7 minutes just until veggies are tender. 

 

Once the veggies have cooked through add 1 tbsp of chili garlic sauce.  This step is optional but phenomenal in my opinion! Next put all your veggies in a large serving bowl, add in the chopped green onion and pour the peanut butter dressing over the top...

Now for the Peanut butter dressing

 

 

1/4 cup of peanut butter
2 tbsp tamari sauce
2 tbsp water
1 garlic clove minced
1 tsp of fresh shaved ginger
2.5 tsp of pure maple syrup
1/2 tbsp of sesame oil
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

This is the peanut butter dressing you will use for the raw or cooked pad thai and it is amazing!
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For the curried shrimp I bought 1 lb of fresh shrimp, that already had the peels removed.  Once my veggies were done in the electric skillet I put them in a bowl and added the shrimp to the skillet and added in about 1/2 a cup of the Madras curry sauce.  I found it in the organic section at Kroger. It is delish and so easy. 

                            I then topped my pad thai with the shrimp and my meal was complete!

The Thief

     

   There she stood in her princess dress.  She had spent the morning twirling, curtseying, singing into her microphone and pushing her puppy in the "princess carriage" aka the baby doll stroller.  She now stood still with a sunken look on her face.  I ask her what is wrong and she says "I am not the real snow white because the real snow white has a red headband and I don't have a red head band." I go to her hair bow drawer and pull out a gold headband and a turquoise headband "but mommy those aren't red." I am just about to explain that we can pretend they are red when she whizzes by me grabs her brothers toboggan and proudly exclaims "now I am a princess." 


          In that moment I breathe a sigh of relief and thank God that she is 3 and she is able to use her imagination and pretend.  I also feel a pain in my stomach and heart as I think of all the comparison that is to come in her life in the not so far away future.  Comparison...it is the thief that steals our joy. Comparison is what stole her moments of twirling and caused her to pause and realize that she was missing something, albeit a red headband but it was something and it took away her fun, if only for a moment, and made her feel as though she wasn't measuring up. 


          I use my 3 year old as an example of how comparison stole her joy but how many times have you and I let comparison cause us to forget our blessings and wish we had, looked like, were doing something that someone else had or was.  It is spending a solid 10 minutes airing up a pool raft for my child to have it popped in 3 seconds.  My lungs are still aching from airing it up and the fun of the pool raft is gone immediately.  The deflating feeling that comparison causes you to feel is pure misery. 
   
       I want my daughter to be original.  I want my daughter to be confident and joyful in her shoes.  Wishing you were in someone else's shoes is a sure way to live a miserable life. Comparison causes us to hit the pause button, to stop living our lives and using our blessings and instead we are in the same spot sulking wishing for more when amazing things are right in front of us.   I know there will be days when comparison steals her joy or my joy or your joy but may we all wake up from our self doubt and count our blessings and be thankful and grateful and live life to the fullest.  May we ditch the red headband, find a crazy toboggan and celebrate life, our life!

Crazy Life

          Have you had those days when you question if anyone else household is going as wack as yours?  It is time for Meritt to go to school and her jacket is no where to be found.  I remember that I washed it yesterday and then I remember that I never put it in the dryer, this is a chronic problem for me.  I tell Meritt to go upstairs and grab another jacket she comes downstairs wearing a jacket that is a size 18 month the wristbands are at her elbows.  I tell her that is not going to work and her and her dad both question me wanting to know what is wrong with it. ha! I run upstairs grab her a jacket and dry her tears (she is still wanting to wear the 18m jacket). In all the commotion puppy who is in the midst of potty training poops in the dining room floor.  I run to go get tissue paper and when I come back I see Wells crawling straight for the poop.  His crawl is fast, but today it is like he is a jaguar, it is like he thinks I am racing him to see who can grab the poop first.  I get to Wells and drag him by the back of his shirt and pull him back so that I can get the poop up before he can get to it.


           This is a snippet of a very normal Thursday in the Pearson household.  Crazy, comical, and yes sometimes, gross.  As I was on my hands and knees this morning (picking up poop and trying not to breathe in the smell) the thought crossed my mind "is anyone else's home this crazy"? While I know the scenarios may not be the exact same in every house, I do know that unexpected, hilarious and sometimes undesirable things have a way of popping up in every home. No matter how much we plan and organize life has a way of humbling us and reminding us that we are not in control. 

         Social media tells us that people's homes are perfect.  It tells us that kids don't cry, dinners don't burn and spouses don't argue.  We all post our best pictures.  The pictures of our kids dressed in smocked clothes,  our dinner on pretty dishes, and our date night dressed in our best outfits.  I actually don't think there is anything wrong with posting these things and if you follow me on instagram you know that I post a lot.     I do think we have to look at pictures knowing it is just a small snippet from the persons life.  We want to share our best, I don't think that means we are trying to hide our worst we just don't care to take pictures of the worst for everyone to see.

       When you find yourself on the floor cleaning up poop or on the side of the road changing a flat tire you may ask yourself, is anyone else's life this crazy?  I can assure you the answer is yes.  Life is full of the unplanned and it is from the unplanned boulders that arise that we are forced to grow and adjust.