monumental moments & nothing at all too

 this week, we had a handful of biggy moments
& some upcoming biggy moments
mixed in with the little ones too.
8th grade dessert, senior honors night & senior banquet.
and senior prom & mothers day coming up this weekend.

senior banquet is tonight at our church.

savannah was asked to be one of the speakers

which ensures that i will be that mom.

the crying one

trying to get a grip on the fact that time just continues to be whizzing by.

i'll be the one with her own box of tissues.

yes, that will be me.

here we go.

we celebrated emily's 8th grade service earlier this week.

for both of these services, parents were asked to write a letter to their child.

a wise friend advised that i start those letters months ago,

especially the ones for the seniors

"because you'll be so tender & emotional in may".

well honestly,

i've been tender & emotional about may, 

for months.

we've been so busy this month 

just in the doing

that i haven't been as sappy about graduation.

we'll see if i can get it together tonight!

a few random things from this week~

i LOVE facebook.
oh yes i do.

if for no other reason than moments like these:

i posted this image on fb asking what the heck these bugs were

& more importantly how do we get rid of them

& within moments,

moments i tell ya,

i had been schooled in elder bugs/love bugs, etc.

apparently we have a giant food source, an elder tree, in our backyard

hence the mass infestation, especially on hot sunny days

of these constantly reproducing, bugs! ack!

 i talked dan into splurging on some cool shoes for himself.

he's the king of the following
"i'm ok. i don't really need any-----"( fill in the blanks with whatever the topic is, shoes,pants, etc)

but he did need some shoes

so for our anniversary we scored some wallabees for him 

& birkenstock's for moi.

birthday tulips from my sweetheart

congrats card from mimi

for the middle two on making the jv football/comp cheer squad.

homework study session.

all ages welcome.

seriously yummy for little prepackaged whatevers

& only 100 calories.

smirking

susan r., this is for you.

little bit making her gourmet worthy wrap to take to school

in her new vera lunch box.
forgive the crappy white balance.

red mary janes

my most favorite of all time shoes for little girls

and

if you've missed this floating around on youtube & facebook,

i think you'll enjoy this monumental moment~

stop & sit

when savannah was on spring break, she texted me & proudly proclaimed

that she had been out to dinner with her friends and the chaperones.

what was the proud moment you ask?
that she was dancing with the moms
& knew all the words to the classic rock songs at the restraunt.

i've trained her well.

rolling stones,the eagles, james taylor,

elton john, the doobies.

the list goes on.

years ago, she would roll her eyes when i would explain the importance 

of appreciating all the music genres. now she knows! 

tuesday night, i had what felt like a billion things to do

when i heard the older two yell up the stairs...

"tell mom, they're doing fleetwood mac on glee".

fleetwood mac is my favorite. 

landslide. songbird. oh yes, indeed!

they were practicing prom hair

& just hanging out.

those nights are fleeting as my savannah heads out in a few months.

but in that sweet simple moment,

wild horses couldn't have kept me away from sitting down there with them.
just being.

i'm the worst about stopping

& maybe even worse about sitting. 

i seldom sit down & enjoy hanging out with the girls.

ugh.

that's so embarrassing to admit.

 usually in the late evenings i'm winding down. or spending time with dan.

i'm not a tv watcher 

however, as my girls have turned (in the blink of an eye. thankyouverymuch) into teenagers, 

i've realized some of the best quality time

(second to taking them shopping)

is in the evenings.
usually while they're watching their shows, or when they've come in after an event.

a mentor of mine, who has since passed away, wrote in her book

that some of the best quality time with her teenagers was late in the evenings,

when she might prefer to be sleeping. but that she tried to be available to them,

in the event they wanted to talk or share about their day.

if i could encourage anyone to do better what i wish i had done more of,

it would be to stop & sit.

just spend time with them when they're in their element.
granted it's usually when you feel busy, or tired.
it seldom coincides when you have a free quiet moment,
but stop & sit
& soak it all in.


you wanna know the funny thing about that night,

or
maybe it's not so funny...
i can't even remember now
what i thought i was so busy with.

four roses & free time

this time last year, i ended up being blessed with 

a new laptop, a new lens & some new florabella actions

basically all at the same time.

jackpot!!

talk about my favorite addiction hobby.

i was in hog heaven!

 i may need to make some time boundaries for myself,

because i can get lost for hours ...playing.

i did just order two more lenses

(i'll share about those later)

& the latest florabella action set,
so i'll start the time boundary issue later.
smirk.

i'm not totally pleased with how these rose images turned out.

they may be a little too saturated, but the first four images were 

post processed with actions from LUXE II.

( the actions however, i am totally pleased with!)
the rest are sooc.

i seriously love turning on pandora,

currently Adele's station,
sitting in my comfy chair,

opening the windows and feeling the fresh breeze,

a diet coke or decaf fat free hazelnut latte beside me

and playing with photos~

a perfect way to spend my free time.

what's your favorite way to spend your free time?

i'd love to hear....

Ted's Honey-Glazed Salmon

 

as promised, i have a Savannah Bee Company recipe to share with you.

1 lb fresh salmon filet

1 Tbs white wine vinegar

2 tsp dijon mustard

2 tsp Savannah Bee Company Grill Honey

fresh ground pepper & salt

1 Tbs olive oil

fresh rosemary

1 Tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice

preheat grill to 350

( if you use a cedar grilling plan, prepare as directed. i don't)

make slits in salmon along the grain every 1-2 inches

pour vinegar & lemon juice over filet, coat both sides.

mix evoo, mustard & grill honey in a small saucepan over low heat.

blend mixture into an emulsioin.

pour 1/2 over fish

strip the leaves of the rosemary into filet slits.

place fish skin side down on plank, or grill

pour remaining mixture over filet

salmon should reach an internal temp of 135-145 ( approx 15 min)

drizzle grill honey liberally over top & turn up heat to 450

after 1-2 minutes remove filets & let stand for 5 minutes.

i also served steamed green beans with feta & dill

1 (12-oz) bag microwavable fresh green beans
3–5 sprigs fresh dill, finely chopped
2 oz feta cheese
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup Greek vinaigrette

Microwave beans in bag on HIGH 4–5 minutes until tender.

Chop dill (2 tablespoons); place in medium bowl. 

Chop feta coarsely or crumble while adding to dill.
Remove beans from packaging and immediately plunge into cold water to stop the cooking process; drain and pat dry.
Add beans to dill and feta; stir in pepper and dressing. 

Chill until ready to serve. Stir once before serving.

enjoy!

did you know that tupelo honey is only harvested

during two weeks in the springtime?

when we were in savannah, the fresh tupelo for 2011 was not yet available, 

but should be released today!

winter white honey...i shared this image several months ago,

but it's worth repeating...seriously delicious!!

Savannah Bee Company

 another great destination that we enjoyed during our spring break run to Savannah Georgia

was the Savannah Bee Company.

there are multiple locations in savannah.

we visited two.
one on river street & one on west broughton.
both were very charming.

 the w. broughton street shop featured a gorgeous bar area
filled with stunning florals
& delicious treats with which to sample all the honey flavors.

honey mint limeade
or
orange blossom cheesecake anyone?

 

i loved the colors mixed with the cotton displays.

 the fresh flowers in the large glass urn-

stunning!

i love the signature bottles...

we left with a multitude of options!

 

the following was from the smaller shop on the river.

cute little childrens area-

 doesn't this facial scrub sound heavenly?

i have a yummy little grilled salmon recipe 

that includes some of savannah bee company's grill honey to share
with you too!

ps--i found a southern living feature on
the founder, Ted Dennard,
who happened to be in the shop the day we visited.
i love ted's quote
“Honey is like concentrated sunshine to me".

 (image via southern living)