Big News and Big Changes

The last time I posted was October...I was thinking to myself today, what was going on the end of October beginning of November that would have kept me from posting for so long. Oh yes that's it....WE'RE EXPECTING! Yes my readers the lovely threesome that is My Beloved, myself and Jane is about to get a wee bigger with the addition of a little cuddly bundle of joy this Summer. My morning sickness has finally subsided so I have some brain power to think again and have been giving my blog some deep thought. Well lets be honest, its deep for a pregnant lady, its probably just normal thinking for the rest of you. Anyway, back to the original thought. I started the Newlyweds Notebook with the desire to chronicle not only my life as a newlywed but also provide tidbits for things like crafts, stories about Jane, and of course the What's Cooking corner. The name of the blog has never changed purely because I believe that newlywed is a state of mind and My Beloveds and I desire for our marriage is that we would have the newlywed glow in our relationship well into the future. So after some thought I'm here to announce two things...one that the Newlywed's Notebook isn't going anywhere...and two that we are creating a new blog! The Motherhood Memoirs will launch in the weeks to come and will chronicle the months leading to our delivery and of course life with baby, and all that that entails. It will have kid friendly recipes, parenting tips (As I learn some) and a candid documentation of this new journey we're on. As for the Newlywed's Notebook it will remain the same with a few exceptions. "Life with Jane","What's cooking" and "The Craft Room" will stay put. For you readers without kids these sections will focus on food for grown ups, special romantic ideas for you and your hubby's, ideas for the home and of course the many adventures of Jane. Since life as I know it is changing drastically so will that section. "Life as I know it" will now be encouraging words/ devotionals etc that ministered to My Beloved and I, plus fun date ideas etc. (Yes despite what you think we will be dating still even with baby arriving)  I couldn't bring myself to delete this blog but I also know a lot of my time will be consumed with baby and the Newlyweds Notebook isn't going to be the blog for that. So you faithful readers please stay with me! I would love to have you join us on the Motherhood Memoirs if you can relate or are just curious to see if I survive. Thank you all so much for joining us thus far on our journey and I look forward to the many adventures to come!

Love, 

Ashley 

The Land of Inspiration

There is a place....its a wonderful wonderful place. A place where inspiration and creativity live, where you are pushed out of your natural way of thinking and start seeing the world and all that's in it in a new light. Your creativity is sparked and before you know it you are making your own laundry soap, you suddenly know how to dress stylishly, and you start making dinners that consist of more than just chicken and some sort of side dish. What is this magical place you ask? Pinterest....(cue the ooohs and awes) Ok I may have played up the spectacular-ness of this website but seriously its amazing. Pinterest is (according to Pinterest) 

"Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. "

I can't take the credit for discovering this site. My friend actually tipped me off to its exsistance. She, like me is a crafty, foodie, homemaker and is always looking for something new to make, bake or decorate. (Look at me and my fancy rhymes, you can thank pinterest for that creative flow) The reason I have chosen to post about pinterest is simple. People are constantly asking where I get my ideas from and now I share them with you. In the corner of my page is a link to my pinboards. Take a minute and check it out. If you ever want to know exactly whats happening in the kitchen, my closet (or at least the one I dream about) or the house check this out. I don't have time to blog everything but I invite you to take a look into my pinboard world. I hope you are inspired and start your own boards that will spark your creativity and make your world a little more beautiful. Happy Pinning! 

Saturday Morning Waffles

Scrambled eggs and grapes are my favorite addition to waffles

We love breakfast here at the little house by the sea. My beloved is the master chef when it comes to breakfast but one thing I can claim is that I make a mean waffle. Sure its not as impressive as his pancakes or his omelets but I'm proud of them and decided to share them with you all. 

These waffles became a staple for breakfast around our house back when we first got married. I only owned two cookbooks (one of which had this recipe in it) and my best friend gave me her heart shaped waffle maker. So being the sappy newlywed I figured heart shaped waffles were the perfect breakfast for my sweet new husband. Four years later these are still a favorite and I while I usually use the Belgian waffle maker these days, I always get a sweet smile from my beloved when I bust out the waffle maker from our first months together in wedded bliss. 

Saturday Morning Waffles

This batter works in regular and Belgian waffle makers

Prep:10 min Bake: per waffle maker instructions
Makes: 12-14 (4 inch waffles) Not so many when you make heart shaped ones

Ingredients...

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour (if you want to be all healthy use the whole wheat stuff)

2 Tablespoons sugar

1 Tablespoon baking powder

2 Eggs

1 3/4 cup milk (I usually use 2% but I have used whole before as well and there really isn't a difference so use your milk of choice)

1/2 cup cooking oil or butter, melted (I have gone both ways and honestly it depends on how tired I am when I make these. Some mornings I don't want to melt butter) 

1 teaspoon vanilla (HA! Like I ever use the recommended amount of vanilla. Double that.) 

Ok now this is the part in the recipe where they make you mix dry ingredients in one bowl and the egg in another etc etc...but lets be honest this is breakfast and if you are like me you probably haven't had that much coffee while you are doing this so go ahead and just dump it all in a bowl grab a whisk...whisk whisk whisk...and pour into your waffle maker. Ta Da! Waffles!  

Fall-ing Flat

"What do you mean the pumpkin
lattes are here yet?!"

Well my day didn't exactly go according to plan. First of all I woke up with no taste of Fall in the breeze but rather a big fat hit in the face from humidity and general nastiness. This was followed by running around trying to pick out another outfit because my cute Fall-ish one was now wildly inappropriate for the weather. Next was the trip to Starbucks only to realize I had my dates wrong and the pumpkin spices latte was no where to be found. One hot flash inducing coffee later I was in the office remembering why I moved from inland to the coast last year. By the time I got home that night (all hot and sweaty mind you) I discover that the ants (because in California you get a billion ants in your house every summer) have managed not only to find the cookies that I baked the night before but in the process have also made it clear that the only place in my kitchen where food is safe is the refrigerator. I grabbed a water bottle, kicked off my shoes and flopped on the couch. While I laid there staring at the ceiling fan (that was on full power) I had a deja vu moment. Its like this every year, Fall doesn't really come to California until November. Alas, I had gotten my hopes up but hey my taste of fall was defiantly a sweet little blessing and in the words of one Scarlet O'Hara.... "Tomorrow is another day" and I'll be wearing a tank top and sandals.

A Taste Of Fall

I tasted Fall yesterday in an ocean breeze that blew through my window and woke me up with a little chill. This morning I woke to a deep rumbling that was followed by the sound of heavy raindrops falling. All this to say....It's almost Fall! I know I live in Southern California and this weather will inevitably be replaced tomorrow with 90 degree sunshine but today it feels like Fall. Tomorrow I plan to stop on the way to the office and pick up a pumpkin spiced latte at my local Starbucks and I might even wear a cardigan in the vain hope that it will be cold enough to keep it on all day. I don't know what it is about Fall but its my absolute favorite of all seasons. It's the time of year where you bust out the yarn and start making fun things like scarfs and hats and sweaters (well that last one is a long shot but who knows) It's a time when the REAL baking begins and when you get to try all those soup and crock pot recipes you've been wanting to try all summer but its been to hot to go near the stove. It's the time of year you pull on a sweater and take the dog for a walk on the windy beach then come home for some apple cider to warm you up. It's the season of awesome coats and sweaters and lets not forget the boots. There are harvest festivals, apple picking and pumpkin carving, farmers markets and day trips to the mountains Yep it's the most glorious season of all and yesterday I tasted it and today I heard it coming. Sure it was just a glimpse but it was a lovely glimpse and it was enough to put me in the mood to 

bake some cookies and crochet a hat. 

The Summer of the Sugar Cookie

Alright here we are talking about sugar cookies again but hear me out people. I have only given you a small taste of the awesomeness that can be a sugar cookie, and with the holidays around the corner you'll thank me later. 

  You see this all started with a dear friend of mine, fellow housewife and crafting extraordinaire. In her blog reading she found The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbell. Yes this is a blog based in Texas (how could it be anywhere else with a name like Sugarbelle?) and this women is AMAZING! She has taken the sugar cookie places I would never have thought possible. So of course....WE HAD TO TRY IT! Using the recipe I have posted here several times (because like I said before it really is the best one out there) and a whole lot of practice my friend and I spent the majority of our summer baking these cookies and doing our best to be as awesome as Sugarbelle. While my friend, who has hands so steady she could have been a surgeon, is considerably better than I am, I feel like I have done pretty well for myself in this endeavour (see pics).  It would be wrong of me to try to teach you the art of these cookies so I shall direct you to the master. Below I have a link to Sugarbelles blog...read it...be amazed...learn her ways and this holiday season you will have the most awesome cookies ever. Happy baking!
The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle

Feeling a little disconnected?

"Hey babe whats for dinner"...."Ummmmmm"...."So Chinese take out again?"...."Yep" 

"Hey babe is my red shirt clean?"..."Yeah I washed it a few days ago"...."I don't see it in the closet"..."That's because its still in the dryer" 

Lately this has been the types of conversations my beloved and I have been having in between running out the door to work or some other obligation, or right before we collapse on the couch and mindlessly stare at the food network until one of us falls asleep and the other drags them down the hall to bed. I really dislike seasons of busyness like this but I know its where the Lord has us and I likewise know that I'll have the strength to accomplish what He has for me each day and the rest...well isn't that important to be honest with you. While I'm the type of person who wants there to be a home cooked meal on the table each night I know that I'm not in a season of life where that's realistic and while my beloved would like to never have to look in the dryer for clean clothes he has grace on me. One thing that we have to watch out for in these seasons though, be you a newlywed or a been wed forever, is the disconnect that can come with it. You may think that your good because you still get to spend evenings at home with your husband or you have a full day off with him every few days but have you really examined to see how that time is spent? It has been a struggle in our marriage and something that both my beloved and I have to work to fight against. When things get busy we tend to almost shut down and just do the next thing, even in our moments of "relaxation" we aren't really relaxing and we aren't really spending the much needed time together. By together I mean talking with one another, getting out of the house or staying in if you feel like it. Not having the TV on but instead really listening to one another. I know its hard, your tired you wanna zone out. I hear ya! There are nights where we do just that but we have and continue to make sure that we are spending time technology free, interruption free (yes that means turning off the cell phone) together just being us. The picture I posted above is from a night where we did just that. I set up a  little outside picnic for us and we sat there and talked till it was time to go to bed. There were moments of silence where we were just thinking and staring at the sunset, there were moments of laughter and some moments of serious conversation about whats been going on in our lives. At the end of it we came in refreshed and ready to continue on with our busy lives. I encourage you to stop and do this with your spouse. If you only have an hour, no worries. If you have a whole evening, great! No matter what though stop and make sure you are not just two ships passing in the night. No matter what the Lord has called you to in this season of life He never desires this for you and the one you love.