At long last, Asheville here we come!

 We have been pining to road trip it to Asheville for years now, and we are finally getting our chance, thanks to a coworker hooking us up with a comp hotel stay, woohoo! (an amazing perk of my day job). And just in time to celebrate five years (!) of marriage. Neither of us have been to the Carolinas before and are thankful to have the chance before we are out of road-trip range. I am excited to finally experience the Blue Ridge mountains and plus I have heard amazing things about the food culture, the music scene and the beer. A few of my favorite things.

{source}

For any of you who have been, I would love your recommendations! The only for-sures on our itinerary so far are hiking at Mt. Mitchell (the tallest mountain east of the Rockies!) and dinner at Tupelo Honey. Am thinking about a visit to The Biltmore but am not sure I want to spend the money, it is really worth it? For reference, we will be there for just a long weekend - two days and three nights.

Do any of you have a fun road trip planned in your near future? Hubs and I absolutely love them. I envision many in our Oregonian future.

friday links.

{lovely garland made by Kristen of PomLove, with whom I'm going to be sharing a city in a few months! :D)

- was growing out my bangs but suddenly missed them desperately so I got banged

- have you guys seen this video of two guys undergoing labor pain simulation? They're actually two guys from my church, one of which is a good friend of my hubby's. they made it to play at services on Mother's Day. apparently it's going viral!

- really want these wooden clogs 

- want to try this paleo granola

- and this Alfredo-like sauce made with cauliflower

- loving these sandals made by Guatemalan artisans

- found this article about why French kids don't have ADHD to be really interesting. now want to read Bringing Up Bébé (eventually)

what are you lovelies up to this weekend? my family and i are headed to Grand Rapids to help my sis and brother-in-law move (apparently this is the summer of moving!) my sister just accepted a job as Director of a Boys and Girls Club camp and they will be living on the camp site - so proud of her!! 

that time a bat got into our house...

And I went bat-shit crazy (please excuse my language - I just couldn't help myself).  

{pretty hot, I know}

Joel successfully took care of the bat with a bat (he had opened the front door in hopes it would leave peacefully but 'twas not happening). While he was upstairs trying to get it though, it got away and flew downstairs into the living room straight toward me (or so it seemed). I screamed bloody murder, and as evidenced above, spilled my wine all over myself as I dashed toward our sunroom (back left) and slammed the door. I don't remember the last time I was so frightened, my heart was beating out of my chest! Joel said he has never heard a more genuine, blood-curdling scream, that it topped anything he'd heard in a horror film - haha! Pretty ridiculous. Thank God Joel was home because obviously I wouldn't have been able to remedy the situation on my own. I was quite impressed (and turned on) by my man swooping in and saving the day. 

Has this ever happened to you guys? What did you do? I'm hoping to never encounter a bat indoors again, though it did make for a photo that many people seem to have gotten quite a kick out of. 

Lately..

I know I've been pretty absent from this space lately, so I thought I'd fill you in on just a few tidbits from my life lately, via Instagram of course. My DSLR has been feeling ever so neglected. I'm thinking it might be fun to take a photography class at PSU once Joel's a professor there so that I can learn how to go beyond the Auto mode.

Spent Mother's Day in E. Lansing with all my family. Had a delicious authentic Mexican lunch followed by coffee & dessert, then moved my brother out of his apartment! He's done with college aside from one class he'll be taking this summer and is now living with my parents (10 minutes from us!), so I am excited to spend a lot more time with him before we move to Portland (which by the way, has totally not sunk in). We'll really get a lot of time together once we join him at my parents' house at the end of June.. we'll be living there July and August in order to save some money before our move. My parents are the best.

Been doing a whole lot of cooking lately to avoid going out to eat (we're working toward paying off our credit cards and this involves being very careful with our spending). On Cinco de Mayo, I made my favorite tacos - Chicken Tinga tacos. Was going to post the recipe but then decided that was sorta silly since it is verbatim what is on Nicole's blog. I highly recommend these, Joel and I go crazy over them. The chicken prep is rather time consuming, but pays out on flavor and usually lasts us much of the week, which means I get a few days off of cooking. It's great on quesadillas too.

Celebrates Magg's 5th birthday on Sunday, although I'll admit he was a little neglected with it being Mother's Day and is being out of town most of the day. But he did get some treats from Trader Joe's that he flipped out over, as well as lots of lovin'. Hard to believe out bubbers is 5 years old. I love him to pieces.

Got to spend lots more quality time with Joel while he was on break from teaching classes, which involved lots of long walks and picnics. It's been so refreshing. I am so looking forward to having way more time with him once he's a full-time professor. No more being he wife of a PhD student.. Woohoo!! Really hard to believe this chapter is coming to a close. Hoping our last summer in Michigan is filled with amazing memories. Between moving twice, standing up in a wedding in Denver and having something going on nearly every weekend, it's definitely going to be a busy one!

What have you guys been up to lately? Is your summer a packed one?

Last-Minute Mother's Day Card Roundup

Just in case you haven't gotten your mom a card for Mother's Day yet (I just ordered mine this weekend). 

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 

Worried about it getting here on time? Another convenient option is downloading this lovely card. I got my friend's bridal shower invites (also downloadable) from the same shop, Paper and Pip -- I definitely recommend.

I'll be back later this week to share a recipe from Cinco de Mayo and some photos from the bridal shower I threw -- if I can get my darn desktop to work! April was a very full month and I'm happy for a bit of downtime before things get crazy again, which will include visiting this space more often - I've missed it!

moist & delicious grain-free blueberry muffins!

When i first started venturing into "healthy" baking, I experimented with whole wheat flour (like this banana bread). since then, I've read {some of} the book wheat belly (helpful summary here) and my eyes were opened to how wheat - whether it be white or whole - is actually detrimental to our health, in a number of ways (stemming from its uncommonly high glycemic index). Yikes.. that was not an easy thing to swallow! since then, i have mostly eliminated if from my diet, with some exceptions here and there of course (um hello, I can never say goodbye to bread or pizza altogether (the real stuff)... although i am excited to use this to make my own GF crust). I'm pretty sure that eliminating it has been the biggest contributor to my losing weight and feeling a million times better (I used to feel tired frequently, esp. late afternoon, plus I would usually wake up with a tummy ache and have frequent bloating issues).

I have since discovered the wonders of almond flour... it makes amazing baked goods (and is super healthy -- win-win)!! In my opinion, it's results are FAR superior to whole wheat flour.. so much more moist and delicate! I started out with the Trader Joe's brand but recently finally splurged on Honeyville's and will never go back. It is freaking amazing. Because it is made with blanched almonds, the texture is far finer and superior to the TJ's brand. And though i know it seems crazy expensive, because it is such a large quantity, it should last you several months. also, if you sign up for their newsletter, you'll get updates about special sales (they actually just finished having a storewide 20% off sale)!

I have been making muffins like crazy lately for the hubs and I for breakfast (we love them and they stay good for a few days). Some of my favorites so far have been raspberry chocolate chip (amazeballs), pumpkin chocolate, and banana chocolate). Finally made one without chocolate, haha. Plan on trying these and these next.

GRAIN-FREE BLUEBERRY MUFFINS 

(adapted from this recipe)

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1/3 cup honey
4 tablespoons melted coconut oil (or pastured butter)
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon lemon zest (from 2-3 lemons)
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease muffin pan with coconut oil or butter or use unbleached muffin liners.
2. In a medium mixing bowl use either a whisk to combine the eggs, honey, coconut oil, vanilla, baking soda, sea salt and lemon zest.
3. With a spatula, first mix in the almond flour, in batches, and then gently fold  in  and blueberries.
4. Batter will be very firm so you’ll need to use a spoon to evenly divide the batter amonst the 12 muffin cups. Place 2-3 blueberries on top and press down into the batter…just because it looks pretty!
5. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Toothpick should come out clean and they should be a nice golden brown. 

This is a recipe I will be coming back to time and time again, for sure. I am craving them as I type this! 

an invitation.

I read a really beautiful passage from Bob Goff's Love Does last night that stirred my heart immensely and I don't want it to leave my mind.

"I get the invitation every morning when I wake up to actually live a life of complete engagement, a life of whimsy, a life where love does. It doesn’t come in an envelope. It’s ushered in by a sunrise, the sound of a bird, or the smell of coffee drifting lazily from the kitchen. It’s the invitation to actually live, to fully participate in this amazing life for one more day. Nobody turns down an invitation the White House, but I've seen plenty of people turn down an invitation to fully live..."

I don't want to be one of those people that rejects this amazing invitation. Especially when we just never know when our time here could end.

Thinking about and praying for all of those affected by the Boston bombings, have had a hard time posting this week. Hope you and your loved ones are safe.