What I Am Looking Forward To Right Now {Little Bliss List}

What I am looking forward to right now...


1. Going for a walk outside in the sunshine today.


2. Treating myself to a Starbuck's and a pedicure this afternoon.  Woot woot!  (My feet are so not sandalicious these days.)


3.  Going out with my husband this weekend on our second date this month.  Amazing.  A record for us.


4.  Seeing the Hunger Games with a friend sometime next week. (I haven't even read the books but am going anyway.)

5.  starts on Monday.  Can't wait to spend more virtual time with Liz Lamoreux.  If you don't know her you should check out her comforting blog be present, be here.

6.  Pulling weeds.  I know it sounds weird but I am looking forward to getting it done.

7.  Taking part in the April Photo Challenge on Instagram with Paper Coterie.  You can too!


8.  Holy Week and Easter are almost here bringing blessings in so many ways. 

 I hope you have lots of things to look forward to this weekend!

What I Am Looking Forward To Right Now {Little Bliss List}

Waves to Weeds {PHFR}

~PRETTY~

 

Sometimes I still have to pinch myself that we live on the Atlantic Ocean. Growing up in the most landlocked location in North America taught me to love the horizon, the wide open spaces, to see the humble beauty in the waving wheat and bobbing sunflower fields.  Yet life has brought me here, to the water's edge, its own wide open space and an endless horizon.

~HAPPY~

There are times in my life when I cannot get enough of books.  March was a month like that for me.  Today I awoke at 3:33am (does this mean something?) and could  not get back to sleep.  All I could think about was this stack of delicious word sandwiches waiting for me downstairs.  By 4:00am the coffee was poured, the candle lit and all that was left was to make the choice of where to begin.  (I began with The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything by James Martin S.J. )

~FUNNY~

KC must wear this glove (backwards) on his right hand whenever he plays outside lately.  Yesterday he fell asleep on the way to soccer practice and we ended up sitting in the van for an hour while he napped (not a great thing at 5:30pm).  Needless to say I had a little buddy late into the evening last night.

~REAL~

 

 

Weeds, weeds and more weeds!  I have a LOT of work to do in the yard as the weeds have sprouted faster this year than you can imagine.  They are everywhere.  I was photographing outdoors the other day and began snapping close-ups of these invaders.  Looking back at these photos now I see that even weeds have their own unique beauty. If only my flowers could grow as heartily.

Waves to Weeds {PHFR}

Oh Camellia {photopoem}

a luscious profusion

of pink perfection

gobs of cotton candy

stuck by giddy children

all over evergreen

buttercream centers

sweet tart petals

falling delicately 

into pink puddles below

how have I lived this many springs

never witnessing such

casual elegance on every corner

dark green leaves

silent all winter but knowing

their Springtime would come

and they would become

the star of the sea side

and this girl's
heart

Sharing here...

Creative Everyday

Oh Camellia {photopoem}

Nature Edition {Little Bliss List}

1.  Redbud Trees in bloom.  My current favorite.

2.  Foggy morning walks into the mysterious beyond.

3.  Mr. Mistysmornings completing a half-marathon last weekend and our whole family heading to the beach (along with way too many other people) to celebrate him. So what if it took us an hour to locate one another ~ being in a sea of people is a bliss all its own ~ right?

4.  Raindrops on pansies and patios (and POLLEN bursts!).  Oh, how I adore rainy days in Springtime.  Especially when they are accompanied by flashes of lightening and crackles of thunder.  Nothing says cozy like warm rainfalls, cups of coffee and time to read~ read~ read.

5.  Fresh starts.  We all need them. Right now, I need one and this change of seasons has brought new vigor to my creativity.  I am eager to bake, read, write, blog, photograph, Smash* and garden.  What about you?

I hope your weekend brings you time to indulge in your creativity, too!

Sharing here...

Nature Edition {Little Bliss List}

Foggy Morning Fun {PHFR}

~PRETTY~

 

 

It was so foggy this week that several neighboring communities put school on a two hour delay.  That was my cue to grab the camera and get outside for a while. 

Dew hung in droplets on every leaf and twig, mist swirled over ponds and secreted the horizon.  At first glance the woods appeared gray and dark but as KC and I explored a bit, we found several bursts of color and mystery.  These pink and green pods were by far my favorite  discovery.

~HAPPY~

 

While I snapped, KC dribbled his mini basketball and clung to his Hot Wheels car.  Just seeing his joy made me happy.

~FUNNY~

Unfortunately, our visit was cut short in order to get KC home to a bathroom.  Ha ha!

~REAL~

Even spider webs become beautiful scraps of lace when brought out of the shadows covered in mist.  This truly was a misty morning. :)

Sharing here...

Foggy Morning Fun {PHFR}

I Love It {52 Photos}

::  I Love It  ::

Week 48 Photo Gallery Prompt  

The first beach outing of the season (and my red Rimmel nail polish!) is what I am loving these days.  If you're like me, you'd prefer to keep this mild, not-too-hot-not-too-cold weather all summer long.  Alas, it will not last and soon even a trip like this to the ocean will leave me sweaty, sunburned and sleepy.  


For now, though, nothing beats an isolated afternoon visit to the sun-warmed sand, the water yet too sharp to swim in, watching little boys fling shovels-full into the air and seeing sea birds nosedive for unseen snacks underwater.  It may even induce some trashy novel reading (not by me of course) but I may have seen other women paging eagerly through historical romance novels such as Outlander by Diana Gabaldon for the tenth time...  

I Love It {52 Photos}

Coffee Steam at Picturing God

So happy to be sharing my Coffee Steam photo over at the Picturing God photography blog from Loyola Press.  I'd love it if you'd stop over there and leave me a comment today.  Thanks!  

Where might you see God today?

Coffee Steam at Picturing God

Cinnamon Swirl Irish Soda Bread {TWD ~ BWJ}

 

 

  

I feel kind of sorry for that plain, pasty looking round of Irish Soda Bread.   Taking it out of the oven and setting it down beside the cinnamon sugared version made it look like it came to the party and forgot to get dressed.  

Let me just emphasize how utterly delicious this bread was.  It reminded me of the cinnamon scones I used to buy at Starbuck's years ago.  The crumb is dense and if you eat it while still warm, it is as moist as a buttermilk biscuit.  To think that from start to savor it took only about one hour to make this bread is the best part of this recipe.  Oh and the fact that it has only four ingredients plus one in this case being the cinnamon sugar. 

Another beautiful aspect of this recipe is that it is a one bowl~no rise~basically no knead dough.  Simply stir it up in a bowl with a fork, dump it out, knead it for one minute and plop into a greased pie plate.  To make mine cinnamon swirled I simply kneaded in several scoops of heavy~on~the~cinnamon sugar mixture before placing the supple dough in the pan.   And as my Irish-Catholic girlfriend instructed me ~ be sure to say a prayer for the Pope before you bake it.

You must stop over and print out this super-simple recipe for yourself.  If you have never made homemade bread before in your life this is the absolute best beginner's recipe!

Cinnamon Swirl Irish Soda Bread {TWD ~ BWJ}