A wonderful Wednesday.

What a beautiful day we had today. Sometimes I hope we never leave Cleveland (yes, I just said that). If it weren't for the sense of adventure in me, I think I could settle down here forever and continue to discover new wine bars and underground concert venues, parks with century-old trees and towering estates. . .

You know, a mile from our house is where the J.D. Rockefeller is buried, as well as Eliot Ness and President Garfield.

There are only enough chain restaurants to count on one hand, and instead, there are small, privately-owned diners, bars, restaurants, that really wait to be discovered.

No one can see this when driving through downtown Cleveland, or even on the streets of the East Side where we live. You really do have to hunt (or have great friends that get around), but they're there.

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Here's a cute picture of a cute dog looking for a new home.

He has a lot of energy, and we just can't provide him with the exercise and attention he needs right now because of how our life has changed. He's great with kids (Joyce loves him) and excellent with other dogs (his favorite is the female Pitt Bull that walks past the picket fence every morning and night).

Any takers?

He likes to chew through ropes that he's tied to and bury his bones in piles of laundry. He loves taking walks when it's breezy outside and he's great at snuggling up close. He's an awesome guard dog (he's letting me know there's a dog walking past the house as I type) and an even better companion.

 Really, this is all for his best. But yes, I'll miss him. A lot.
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We're having a Germanfest at our house Friday night. Lots of bratwursts and ale, of course. So, to spruce up the house beforehand, Peter's been working hard in the yard-- planting, mulching, raking, mowing-- while I potted mums and purchased pumpkins (that will be carved, Lord willing, before Friday morning).

It's really amazing what a little yard work and a couple pots of flowers can do!

Hugh and Leif's pumpkins. Yes, we're carving theirs too.

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And now (you knew it was coming), my smoothie ranting.

This week: no fancy greens, just plain old spinach plus frozen berries and bananas (and the flax oil!).

Something I've found to be extremely helpful: peel ripe bananas and pop them into a gallon-size freezer bag. That way when you're ready to make your drinks, they're super cold and easy to just toss in the blender (and they make it icier too).

This week I've been filling my blender to the very top-- this makes 3 full glasses. I have one right away and stick the other two (or one, if Peter's around) in the fridge for lunch, or an afternoon snack.



-A.H.

The two of us.

This photo was taken by a dear friend, and I'm just learning to use Picnik so I played around a bit.


-A.H.

Today in pictures.

on our way to apple picking.

Rosebud has a beautiful smile.

(we painted fingernails today, too...)

our "we miss Ashlee Wells" faces.

this place was beautiful.

best friends.

there was a small petting zoo.

...and a hay pyramid...

...and a train that took us out to the orchards...

We had [at home] "spa treatments" this morning-- showers, face masks, manicures and haircuts, too but I didn't get any pictures, unfortunately.

That's all for now. I'm shot today. Not sure whether I'm just super tired or fighting a little bug. Either way, I need rest.

Goodnight, moon.


-A.H.

In Detroit.

The weather's beautiful up here, and part of me wouldn't mind living up here. But, my heart's way back in Cleveland, and home is where the heart is.

My family's new house is beautiful (perhaps I'll post pictures) and things are coming together quickly.

I'm going on my third night up here I am really missing my husband! Fortunately there is a lot to do during the day, and so many people that there's never a shortage of conversations, but I haven't slept alone (and little girlies don't count) for this many nights in almost a year.

Saturday was spent unpacking boxes and settling stuff in. Sunday Nick, Nate, Aliza, Anna and I went to church at Woodside Bible Church. I wasn't at all impressed with the pastor, the sermon, or the worship service in general (not to mention I was the only one with little ones sitting with me), but the boys really hit it off with some kids they met in their Sunday school class, and I was glad for that. One of the greeters was proudly telling me how she took them up to their classroom and was prepared to introduce them to the teacher and other kids in the class but there clearly was no need for that.

I forgot to warn her they're not typical home schoolers.


Sunday afternoon Nick and I took Aliza and Anna to the Yates' Cider Mill. It's basically a beautiful chunk of property with a river running through it-- the river that runs the mill. They sell about 10 different varieties of apple cider, fresh-made fudge, caramel apples, apple butter, praline almonds and pecans, doughnuts...

Apparently it's a hot attraction through Fall-Christmastime and then in the summer they have ice cream and  other summer foods.

Yesterday there was pony rides, a petting zoo and a reptile man, too.

Aliza and Anna have made friends with the little girl across the street, Louisa. She's 9 and plays equally with both of them, so she's a hit.

We have plans to go apple picking and thrifting. I want to teach my mom to upload pictures to Facebook and the family blog. We're going to buy shelf organizers to get the basement straightened up and list the dining room furniture on Craigslist...

That's it for now. My Love comes up late Friday night and I cannot wait!

-A.H.

Less meat.

Both Peter and I have been convicted that we don't need nearly as much meat as we're consuming. The American lifestyle is telling us we need meat at every meal-- or at least with dinner. Right? Wrong.

Fact is, there is so much protein in other things, even in veggies! A new favorite is to saute vegetables -- the other night we used tomatoes, kalamata olives, garlic, white onion, and red and green peppers-- in EVOO and toss it with a special type of gourmet pasta.

Before I would have thought I needed to saute chicken or steak with this as well. More protein, you know? Yeah, every once in a while, sure. But not every day, or even every other day.

Thankfully we were having dinner with friends who are vegetarian; they made a variation of this (spinach, garlic, basil, peppers, mushrooms, tomato, etc.) and Peter and I both devoured it and felt so satisfied afterwards. And so our eyes were opened to our new favorite dish.

red, green peppers, tomato, kalamata olives

onion, minced garlic.

Le Not-Gourmet Chefs.

I guess we ate it too fast to snap a picture of the finished product. It was good, trust me.
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I've been busy these past few weeks arranging, rearranging and re-rearranging our rooms and furniture.

Half the problem here is that I am just not a photographer. And I will not pretend to be.

Sitting room. (yes, I know the painting is not centered)

Living room.

Living room from behind the couch.

As much as I love interior design/decorating, I am by far, no pro. I've been struggling with this living room since I moved in. It's long, and narrow. There's a fire place at one end and a piano window at the other. I knew it needed to be broken up into "two" rooms, but I wasn't sure how to do it, especially using only what we had.

I'm finally content with the way it is now. I like that the TV is downstairs. I like the "sitting room" and the adjoining "living room". I like that the fire place is exposed, available, open, whatever, especially now that it's starting to get cold; it'll encourage us to use it.


I've simplified our bedroom as well (after moving it to and from nearly every bedroom in the house). I've had a hard time with the rooms because I'm fussy and knew I wanted atleast one guest room, but I wanted the "nursery" to also be a guest room until we actually need a nursery. Yet, we were in need of an office or study space, nook, anything!, a space for Peter. So, I've settled with sticking Peter's desk and books in a guest room and leaving the nursery as Joyce's room and a small guest room. The attic has become a good place for dry storage (though I've begun to hate storing anything. Knick knacks? Ribbons from swim team 5 years ago? Hair from Peter's first haircut? No thanks).

Back to our room. It's simplified. I love it. Peter's promised to paint the artwork for the entire house, starting with our bedroom. (Thus, the walls are bare).

I plan to change the curtains in the near future. I also want to get a mirror to hang above my dresser so it can double as a vanity/dresser. I need to create somewhere else for my scarves and hats to hang (kind of an eye sore), but I've yet to take on that project. And one day, I'm going to sand and paint my dresser. I appreciate the aged, vintage look is has, but the top is really shot.

Our custom-designed Amish-made bed.
 We always say it's the comfiest bed ever.
It could just be that it's ours.
:)

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That's it. I need to wake Joyce up, though I hate doing that. She's been sleeping for 3 hours. I have no idea how she does it. Though, in her defense (and mine) she really needed this and rarely does she sleep all afternoon. Plus, I promised her we'd make cookies before she left.

:)


-A.H.

A post that needs a title.

I've gone green smoothie crazy and I'm in love with the energy they give us! (And we're most definitely not starving either).

Good news-- I found the exact same spinach I was getting at Whole Foods for $2 cheaper at Costco! Yeah. I've since omitted the frozen berries and they taste just fine with bananas and apples alone, though a little... warm because of the fresh veggies. Last week we picked up a head of celery that I used and the week before that we tossed in a few cups of kale... wouldn't recommend the cabbage. I just couldn't bring myself to swallow it, and when even Peter nearly gagged at the lumpy texture and bitter taste, I knew it was bad.

I've been trying to have 2-4 smoothies a day and am really focusing on having the drink itself for meals and then, if I am still a bit hungry, I'll have a small bit of whatever I make Joyce. My focus isn't weight loss, but I have lost 11 pounds eating all these vegetables and fruits!

So here's what I'm doing:

2-3 C organic baby spinach
2 bananas (I like to buy them in bulk and freeze them, that way there's some icy stuff in the drink)
1 apple
4T unfiltered flax seed oil
6-8 ice cubes (if you want it more chilled)

Also, this makes 2 drinks. Your body can't absorb more than 1-2T flax oil, so there's no sense wasting it. If you're making for 1, cut back the flax seed, but take the blender-full of greens, if you can!

I've heard some controversial things on eating fruits and vegetables together because fruit digests faster than veggies, but I haven't heard enough to convince me to change this. At least not yet.

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This little munchkin is on vacation for nearly all of October. Man, do I miss her!

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I caught a cold Saturday night (wedding pictures in the rain!) but thankfully kicked it pretty quickly with some potent echinacea. That stuff is seriously amazing. I'd never tried it before (something else I've learned from my husband).

We're teaching 1st and 2nd grade Sunday School at church and love it. We have such an animated group of children that impress me with how much they know! Teaching 4th and 5th grade VBS really got us into it, so when we were asked if we were interested in teaching Sunday School, we were thrilled.

Oh, my man's taking me on a date tonight and I don't know where... :)



-A.H.