best. potato. salad. ever.

So, I hosted a BBQ for life group and decided to stick with standard BBQ food (it's early enough in the season that no one is sick of it yet). That meant potato salad. I figured that the best place to get a recipe for potato salad would be from Mennonite Girls Can Cook. I read over a couple of recipes and combined a few things, adjusted based on what ingredients I had on hand and came up with my own marvellous creation.

Here it is:

8-10 medium sized red potatoes

8 eggs

1 bunch green onions

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup greek yogurt

fresh ground pepper

1-2 tsp of salt

2-3 Tbsp of pickle juice

Boil potatoes and cube. Boil eggs and slice/chop. Chop green onion. Stir in large bowl with mayo, yogurt, pepper, salt & pickle juice.

Taste, and adjust seasonings.

Enjoy!

Here's some pics:

I haven't tried this yet, but I'm pretty sure you could use all yogurt and it would turn out just fine, it's the part that makes it so creamy and good anyway. Which, would be pretty sweet, since you can get great tasting fat free greek yogurt.

I have also only ever used the hot n spicy pickle juice, so I'm not sure what other ones would taste like. It's really not that spicy (below mild salsa in heat).

Tips:

• it is much easier to cook potatoes ahead of time and let them cool completely before you cube them
• after you boil your eggs, crack the shells all over and soak in cold water for about 10-15 minutes, they will peel much easier.

chimes and gift card

When I finished my time at Siloam, I got a gift card for Michael's. What a perfect gift! I finally went an spent it! I had a blast shopping!

The spoils, great paper, stamps, paper flowers and punches!

We got these lovely chimes on our last truck trip together down in Florida. Sometime before Dan and Jenn moved away they fell down because the strings broke. The chimes came down and found their way into the land of 'things to fix' of which very few things ever seem to come out of around here.

Well, they finally got fixed! I love hearing them while we sit in the backyard on the deck. There not your average chimes, they don't sound tinkly, they sound like church bells.

sewing!

I know it's summer, but I had a lot of stuff in my 'in progress' box and I felt like cleaning it out.

Another diaper sleeve.

A pretty garbage receptacle for in the car.

A two sided stuffed 'steggie' on an adventure in the park.

Close up in the grass.

Cate's Birthday Gift

After the fact, I kinda feel bad, a four year old really doesn't get excited when she opens her birthday gift and it's a dress, but I had fun making it!

mmm, change in perspective

	BETTER MARRIAGE TIP
	Women often complain that they feel like their husband’s mother. But understand that God made men to need women. The Bible tells us that God saw it was not good for Adam to be alone. He needed a helper, so God created Eve to be his helper. That implies that he needed her help to do things. And I bet it wasn’t lifting the fallen trees in the garden. Maybe it was more along the line that Adam didn’t notice that fig leaves all over the ground that needed to be swept up or that peaches needed picking and the pantry was empty. What if it was God’s original intention that Eve was created to be the one to remind him, to ask him, to help him out, to guide and direct him? Would that change the way you see your role? Would you feel less like his mother and more like his wife?

Boot Camp is Over

I tried something new through Groupon. I signed up for a month of fitness bootcamp. Turns out I loved it. Enough that I signed up for two more months. Now it's summer time, and they are moving into their own space and no longer renting space right near where I live. The lead trainer, Johnny of Fukumoto Fitness set me up with a plan to keep working out at home.

So, I'm all set up in the basement. I've also managed to convince a few friends to join me for a workout here and there to keep me disciplined and motivated. Wish me luck!

scooter and motorcycle cruise

Michael and I were the most mismatched pair the other night.

We have a scooter, but it has been in disrepair for a while. Now that it's finally working, I just needed to get used to riding one again (I had done it a few times when we lived in BC). Michael's friend stores his bike at our place and gives Michael riding privileges, so we went for a spin together, me on the scooter, him on the red bike, so that I could gain some confidence.

I wish I had a picture of us driving, but that's kind of hard to do. Let's just say we turned heads. A lot. I don't think it was because our bikes looked hot (though I do think the red one is sexy), or that they made a really cool sound.

fathers day

Me following Michael. He was dropping of his friend's motorcycle in Portage on the way to Austin.

We enjoyed a nice meal by the fire pit.

Happy Father's Day Dad!

life group wind up

I'm not going to say a lot about these pics. We are part of an amazing life group, we had them over to wrap up for the summer. It was lots of fun.

warning: mature content (more special cakes)

Once again, my friend Sarah enlisted my help with making some special cakes for a bride and groom to be. I gladly agreed to help.

Ready to go into the oven.

Out of the oven...

Hiding in my fridge, to surprise Michael!

Finished product!