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5.10.12

Gordon College Homecoming - Russell Orchards & Crane Beach

a dear friend of mine came up for homecoming. she has a lovely blog here.
we spent part of the day at russell orchards and crane's beach.
it was lovely.
here's a picture i snapped & edited of her adorable son Behr.
if i get it together, i made add a few more lovely pictures. Sam & Behr had such a great time together.

Sam kept saying "behr" all day. even after we parted ways.
it's great to meet up with long-time friends.
and even better when our kids are friends!

26.7.12

a summer day

this summer i try to take advantage of my crane's beach sticker.
it's not always easy.
i work.
my son has a "schedule".
my "beach time" is usually his "dinner time".
some days i'm too tired to go to the beach.
i worked from 8am-5pm.
it's too much work to pack a few snacks, bathing suits, towel.
too much work to pack our things in the car.
too much work to lug it all onto the beach.
but, when i do it.
it's worth it.
i relax.
i listen to the sound of the water.
i feel the sand beneath my toes.
i watch sam chase the seagulls.
i watch sam splash into the water [even though it's 60 F].
we hang out.
we build sandcastles.
we splash.
we snack.
we do it again.
we go home.
sam falls asleep in the car.

10.7.12

40th Anniversary Celebration

During the past year, we have been celebrating my company's 40th Anniversary. It has been quite the feat and we have weathered ups and downs. I'm proud to say I work for Murray & MacDonald Insurance and I can honestly say I enjoy my job. I enjoy coming to work every day. Of course, I've experienced both good and bad during the five + years I've worked for Murray & MacDonald Insurance, but overall, I love what I do. I'm very thankful to have a job/career; it's an added bonus that I enjoy coming to work everyday.
We had two 40th Anniversary parties. One for our office in Bourne and one for our office in Falmouth. Our Bourne office is large enough to host indoors, so we did. Our Falmouth office is fairly small, so we rented a tent and had the party outdoors. It was a gorgeous night and everyone enjoyed themselves. Here's a video highlighting the event.
Cheers.

22.6.12

What to do when it's 90 degrees out

Sam's new sleeping spot
Wednesday it was 99 degrees.
So hot.
I love warm weather, but it was too hot for me.
After a day working (in my home office with broken A/C) I was ready to cool off.
I took Sam, a friend, and two of Sam's babysitters to the beach.
Crane's Beach.
It was heavenly. We were only there for about an hour, but it was just enough to cool off.
Do we have to leave mom?
Sam was so sad to leave.
And so was I.
An ecstatic Sam
 Yesterday, I was working again.
The fans were on high and it was tolerable - in shorts & a t-shirt.
Hopefully we can fix our A/C OR get a new window unit SOON - so far stores have been sold out due to the heat wave.
On the positive, maybe we're using a little less electricity?
I don't know how people managed w/out air conditioning!
After work, I decided to take Sam to the beach again.
Solo trip.
He was ecstatic.
He met a few little kids.
He ran in the tidal pools.
He ran into the ocean.
He splashed.
He squealed.
He had a snack.
He chased seagulls.
He loved every bit.
And then he sat down.
And cried.
He was tired.
We were there for 2.5 hours.
We got home at 8pm.
It was dinner & bath quick.
Sam was asleep pretty quickly.
I don't mind the heat when I have a fabulous place to cool off.
I am so thankful we live near a beach.
I am thankful I have a beach sticker.
I am thankful said beach is amazing for kids & adults alike.





so tired.
 Happy summer! Glad midsommar and longest day of the year (yesterday)!
Now the days will be shorter.

20.6.12

iPhone reflections

I have an iPhone.
I have a problem.
I referenced it in this post: a little bit of nothing
It started out innocent.
I had a Blackberry Pearl.
I loved my Blackberry.
I wanted nothing to do with the iPhone.
But then I needed it for work.
And I jumped on the iPhone bandwagon in 2009.
3 years.
And I wouldn't go back.
My iPhone is:
  1. My phone
  2. My calendar
  3. My email
  4. My budgeting tool
  5. My camera
  6. My camcorder (what's that?)
  7. My social media connection
  8. My Bible (really? really. Have you heard of #shereadstruth? Check it out. Lots of goodness. Women reading the Bible together. Women coming together all over the world. Women deciding to let go of the negatives and dwell on the positives. I digress.)
  9. My MP3 player
  10. My task list
  11. A link to DropBox
  12. My car mileage keeper (RoadTrip - great for business purposes)
  13. Turn Photo to PDFer for work purposes (TurboScan - turns any photo into a PDF- A-Mazing)
  14. My calculator (if I'm not on my computer)
  15. My GPS (lots of incredible apps for this)
  16. My weather person
  17. My note-keeper
  18. My keyring (holds all those annoying key-chain coupon store card thingies)
  19. My shopping guide (hello Amazon)
  20. My reference center: news, Wikipedia, associated press, etc
  21. My baby tracker (not now, while pregnant silly)
  22. My favorite cookbook
  23. My dictionary & translator
  24. My movie guide & book list
  25. The list goes on... There are so many more things I use it for.
So one day, it broke, at 7:00am.
Tragedy. Serious tragedy.
But I got by.
And by 7:00pm I had a new iPhone.
12 hours people.

You know what happened in those 12 hours?
I stopped calling & texting.
I called from a landline (what's that?)
I checked my email from my computer. (that hardly every happens, except for work purposes)
I used DropBox, my Outlook calendar & task list on my computer.
I didn't check my budget.
I didn't use my camera or camcorder option (Caleb may have used our digital camera).
I stopped checking all forms of social media, except occasionally, mainly for our company (being honest here).
I already read my Bible (before 7:00am peoples).
I used Spotify on my computer.
I didn't take a business drive or fill up with gas.
I stepped outside to check the weather.
I didn't shop (my wallet & husband thanked me).
I didn't cook (we ate at Chick-Fil-A, hubby also thanked me).
There are a lot of things I didn't do.

And you know what?
The world didn't end.
I didn't lose it.

Did I miss my iPhone? Yes.
Did it feel nice to be partially unplugged? Yes.

Sometimes, we need a break.
Maybe my phone breaking was the world's way of saying, "Sara slow down and smell the roses."
And so I will.
When I want to.
(which I'm trying to do more often)
Join me.
Sometimes.

And now for a few June pictures
Waffles by Uncle Peter
Sermon notes listening to Pastor Dan
 
Rollerblade to Chappy
Such a beautiful place - West Falmouth Harbor
Sandwiches during ReMix band practice

Sam wants to be in the band.
Wait for me dad!
Checking out the view in Newburyport
Playing with bubbles at Russell Orchards
Donuts with Dad at Russell's
Röda Vinbär at Russell's

New sleeping habits... apparently his bed isn't big enough.

Bowl full of cherries
An afternoon at Singing Beach
Snack time at Singing Beach

19.6.12

A little bit of nothing...

It's been months since I've last posted.
Part of me loves writing.
I would love to write daily.
About everything and nothing.
But honestly, I'm not at that point in my life right now.
Caleb is in grad school (he's done in September-ish).
I work full-time (70% of the time from home).
I take care of Sam full-time.
Don't ask how I do it all.
I don't.
I do take it one day at a time.
And I'm making the most of being in the moment.
If I'm working all day, the last thing I want to do in the evening is script a blog post... unless of course Sam is sleeping and Caleb is studying, which is the case tonight.
I have a DSLR.
I LOVE to take pictures.
I don't love lugging it around while trying to chase an almost 2 year old.
So I use my wonderful, lovely, amazing, iPhone.
(I have a problem. More on that & being in the moment in another post.)
Anyway, the iPhone takes amazing pictures.
Honestly, not all the pictures are going to be blown up to poster size and hung in Sam's room, the living room, the kitchen, the hallway, our bedroom...
Honestly, in my life today, I'm lucky if I print any pictures.
(Seriously, my desk at work has pictures when Sam was 6 months old, I'm telling you, I take it one day at a time, and let's face it I don't make it to CVS/online photostore/etc to print - but I do make the time to back up my beloved images, seriously that's important!)
So here is a snapshot since my last post (unedited, b/c I'm not willing to take more time to edit).
The below are April and May.
I'll save June for another post...

Sam LOVES animals, especially dogs.
Proof. There is the iPhone. Blue Hills, MA
Getting a ride, Easter Sunday at Blue Hills.
My Precious Grandma. So thankful I'm able to spend time with her!
Chebacco Woods. A favorite place to walk.
Loves the beach!

Seriously. Loves IT! This was APRIL people.
He kept running toward the ocean water... so I carried him away from it.
Blowing bubbles... in the salty sandy water. LOVES it! (to quote a famous person I know-KMC)
Another beach day in April
His reading lesson, or flip through the pages by myself lesson
Daddy's slippers
Dad & Sam at Crane's
Two peas in a pod
Snuggles after being in the *cold* water

Rainy day splash time with mommy
Big Splashes
Smiles & yogurt face

29.3.12

Trail Mix Bar & Lederhosen

I work for an insurance agency and last night we had a 40th anniversary Business After Hours networking event.
We had a great time.
Below are the two biggest hits of the evening:

1) Trail mix bar - thank you Pinterest!


2) Sam dressed up in German lederhosen - thank you Susi :)



28.3.12

Swedish Cinnamon Buns



Swedish Vetebröd recipe from cooking class 1999 during my year in Sweden
My morfar's parents owned a bakery in Siljansnäs, Sweden. Growing up, he assisted in baking and delivering the yummy baked goods. When I spent my sophomore year in Sweden, I took a cooking class AND spent time with my morfar, perfecting learning baking skills. Above is the recipe taken from Vår Kokbok with my notes and an additional "filling" recipe my friend Lillemor (a talented Swedish baker). She tipped me off on the filling years ago, and it makes the buns THAT much better. I promise!
Last week I decided to make Swedish Cinnamon Buns because I was hosting a ladies night AND I wanted to bring them to the Gordon College Women's Lacrosse Team (more on that in another post).

Rising dough... mmm...
This particular dough uses cardamom. Mmm... it makes the kitchen smell so delicious. I love it.

Rolling out the dough



Prepped for the filling.

Spreading the filling nice & THICK!
This is the filling I was referencing above. Special recipe from Lillemor the baker. :)

Sprinkling the cinnamon... it's always good to be generous

Note: The above is my first round of cinnamon... :)

Rolled and sliced, ready to rise.

Rising.

More cinnamon buns rising.

Into the oven.

More goodness into the oven

Outta the oven. YUM!

Swedish Cinnamon Buns
48 buns (love these, morning, noon, night & Christmas)

50 g yeast (5 tsp dry yeast)
2/3 cup – ¾ cup butter
2 cups milk
½ tsp salt
½ cup sugar
1 – 2 tsp cardamom
6 cups flour

Melt the butter in a pan on the stove; add the milk.
Warm it just enough (think baby’s bottle wrist check)
Add the yeast and use a whisk to thoroughly mix it (sometimes I mix the sugar in at the same time), remember, if it
In a separate large bowl combine, salt, sugar, cardamom, and most of the flour. Slowly add the butter mixture to the flour mixture and work it into a ball of dough. Let it rise for 30 minutes (or until it has doubled in size).
Take the ball of dough and split it in half. On a floured counter-top, roll one of the halves into a rectangle about ½ cm thick. Spread it with the filling (your choice) and roll it into a cylinder shape and slice into buns. Repeat with the other ball of dough.
Place the buns on a greased baking sheet and let them rise for 30 minutes. “Paint” the buns with a whisked egg and bake in the middle of the oven at 425 F for 5 – 8 minutes.

Filling

1.)  Spread butter onto the rectangle and then sprinkle cinnamon and sugar. If you like raisins, you can add raisins with the cinnamon and sugar.
2.)  Lillemor's Filling: For a creamier filling: Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, ½ cup butter, 1 egg yellow, and 1 tsp vanilla and spread on top of the dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon

*If you are someone who is nervous about baking with yeast, don't be! It's easier than you would think and if you have questions, please email me! I want you to try this Scandinavian Goodness that is listed and pictured above. And sometimes the yeast does die and your dough may be ruined... but it happens to the best of us. (maybe a story on that some other time)