I Told You that to Tell You This: Apple Chips, Farm Cats, and a Link Up

~1~

This has been a weird week in chez Little. I worked all last weekend, so had Monday off (and did nothing. Seriously. Nothing.), and then worked late on Tuesday night, came in early on Wednesday with a "last minute run to Menards"-that-ended-up-taking-all-of-three-hours-chaser. I just feel very... off kilter. My routines! I need my routines!

~2~

That said, I need you all to pray for us, please. Something has (just now, like, this very morning) come up, something that would really throw off my routines, but my heart strings are being tugged. Strongly. I'm just not sure that Zeke's are being tugged the same way, and I can be really really impulsive and I jump right in where he looks before he leaps. And you know, just this morning, so he probably hasn't had time to even think about any of this, but it's big on my mind.

I do realize that I'm being very vague- but maybe just pray that we'll very clearly see God's will and doors will open wide if this is the right thing. And if it is the right thing, trust me, you'll hear all about it.

~3~

A lighter, {happy} note: We have tons of apples. Zeke's folks have an apple tree that was majorly overloaded this year... so we came home with tons of 'em. Just trying to be helpful, you know. 

So Zeke decided to dehydrate them and make apple chips. So yummy! 

 ~4~

While at the farm- I thought this was so {funny}

 

Two cats who just loved walking like this. Too cute.

~5~

While I know I'm really blessed to have meals provided for us during the summer (and the no-clean up, no grocery shopping that goes along with that), there's just something wonderful about reclaiming my kitchen each Fall.

Chicken stock in progress.

~6~

So, I no longer have ballet flats due to an unfortunate "while at a retreat, someone took them" situation.

Wait, I didn't tell you about that yet?

Okay, so two weeks ago I went to a retreat. There were a lot of ladies there, and it was rainy. (The rainy part is important, here.) The first night, there was a very nice lady who won a door prize, and she mentioned that her luggage had been lost in the airport. Bummer deal, for sure.

Anyway, my group went for a hike, and my trusty ole ballet flats went too, and got really muddy. So, instead of cleanin' 'em up before dinner (we were late already), I put them in the shared bathroom and put on my other pair of shoes, figuring I'd avoid tracking mud everywhere and I'd clean them later. But when I went back later, they were gone. I looked around, checked the lost and found... nothing.

Until the last day of the retreat, when I saw the door prize lady who lost her luggage. She was wearing my shoes. Huh? But I then I thought, "Well, she might have the same pair!" and then also "She's way taller than me, she probably has bigger feet. So she couldn't be wearing my shoes."

But then I noticed her heels hangin' off the back of them. Those shoes were way too small for her. And I was pretty darn sure they were mine. But how do you go up to someone you don't know and say, "Hey, are you wearing my shoes?"

Weird, the whole situation.

~7~

I told you that to tell you this-

I'm kind of lost without my ballet flats. I gotta get myself a new pair, but until then, I've been trying to work my customary skirts-with-ballet-flats outfits minus the ballet flats. Flip flops have worked great, but now it's getting colder...

So I need help. Because, as I've said, I'm really not much for fashion.  

Here's my outfit for today...

Ignore the messy office in the background. And the garbage can. And the fact that my cardigan is a button off.  There are reasons I don't do this.

... and that's my only idea. (Although I must say, the dress is a {pretty] one. Thank you mother-in-law!) So, I obviously need some help. I asked for help on Facebook, too... but I figured I'd ask again... because desperate.


Link up here with your favorite cowboy boot/skirt outfits. Or just any cowboy boot/skirt outfit. Any outfit at all.

You know what? Let's get wild- link up ANY Fall outfit! 

And, because, you know, the Fall is the perfect time to wear... Fall outfits, this link up will be open for a while. I got no rules. Go crazy.

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Thursday!!

{Pretty Happy Funny Real} Kitchen Edition

Today I'm linking with Like Mother Like Daughter for PHFR!

 Today's contentment brought to you by the upstairs kitchen of the Little Wife Household-all these photos were taken while I was making supper. I'm a multitasker, here.

{Pretty}

For my bridal shower, a friend of mine made me this recipe box. I love it! It's so pretty. I keep it out on my counter because it just brightens the whole place up. 

 {Happy}

Omigoodness. This makes me so happy. First- new wok! This bad boy was my Christmas present from Zeke this year. And yes, I know, you're not supposed to use a spoon, you're supposed to use the handles to bounce the food around. but I'm not coordinated, and I'd rather not loose half of my stir fry on the floor and the other half onto the burner...

Can we talk about the stir fry? This is a frozen mix that we got from Walmart. We don't usually like to buy food from there, but these stir fry mixes are tough to beat. They're Birds Eye brand, and come with noodles and frozen veggies and sauce... and in our area, they're only $6 for a big bag. We can make two suppers out of one bag. I just add some left over chopped up chicken breast, and sometimes "beef it up" by adding some extra frozen veggies, and it's a full supper right there. Half and hour to cook, and only one wok to wash.

Happy.

{Funny}

(You can't see it, but the bedroom and bathroom lights were also on...)

While I was taking these pictures, Zekecame home and said what he says almost every evening... "Why is every single light in the house ON!?"

Now that I think of it.... he says that every morning, before we leave for work, too...

The lights are ooooon, and we're all hoooome...

{Real}

Real life with Little Wife- this spaghetti squash has been sitting on my counter for over a month. I had big plans, but it just never happened, and I kind of forgot all about the squash.

I'm afraid to use it, but haven't yet thrown it away.

Poor squash.

A Look into my Real Life: The Upstairs Kitchen

Just a word of caution, here. Do you remember when I posted pictures of our previous Camp home? How nicely put away everything was, how clean and cozy everything looked? Lies. All lies.

What you didn’t see was the two (potentially three… it was a while ago) baskets of unfolded clean laundry that I kicked out of the way to take a “clean” picture. Or the fact that three seconds before snapping a picture of the bathroom, I threw towels from the floor into the hamper, followed by three of Zeke’s dirty socks (why three? Where was the other one?).

I feel like we do that a lot- myself included. We like our lives to look… uncluttered. Under control. Lovely. Even when life really isn’t that way, that’s the way we prefer to present ourselves.

Well, I’m gonna break myself of that habit, here! Yep! That’s right- I’m going to show you things the way they really are, in all their imperfect, messy, fantastic disarray. Because that, my friends, is how my life really is.

In the name of all things complete honesty, these pictures are “untouched,” “un-scooted-the-dirty-pots-and-pans-into-theother-room,” and “un-I-just-washed-the-floor-in-a-last-ditch-effort-to-make-myself-look-good.”

 This is my sink and my tiny kitchen table! I love this kitchen because of all the natural light it gets especially in the morning. The natural light is more than just aesthetically pleasing... it's essential because, even after 5 months of living in this house, I still can't remember where the light switch is. (It's on the wall outside of the kitchen. Yeah.) Notice the blue counter top.

 ... and notice these countertops! Cream colored, and then gray! Yes, I have three different counter tops. Anyway. This is my stove... which is new. And I love it. The old one was black and dangerous- this is a great improvement.

I also love my upstairs kitchen because there are a ton. of. cabinets. And check out that little curvy wood doorway. Awesome.

Now, you may be asking yourself, “Upstairs kitchen wah? She’s got more than one kitchen?” To which I reply: Yes. I live at Camp, remember? That means that almost every building on site is, has been, or will be used for campers or retreat guests. Originally, my home was used to house two groups at one time- one group would stay upstairs, and one would stay downstairs. Hence, we have an upstairs kitchen and downstairs kitchen-ette thing.

My Italian grandmother would be so proud.

So there you have it- a truthful look at my kitchen!