Not much is new...

.. in our lives, that is.

We woke up to some crazy loud thunderstorms this morning, I'm surprised Bella wasn't freaking out (she's becoming more and more neurotic every day I swear!) and it was a grey, rainy morning. It was good for the garden, that's for sure - but not so good for my mood and motivation. I've been so sleepy this week!

I took this photo on my way in to work through my car window - while stopped at a stoplight of course...

Blah!

Other than that - it's just your average week in the Roehm household - nothing new to report at all.

But there IS big news for some dear friends of ours! Huge congratulations to Adam & Carrie Kendall who welcomed their baby Claire Elise into the world just after 5am this morning. Woohoo! You can see a photo of Claire HERE. Talk about perfection!

Hope you are all having a great week. Happy Hump Day!

Weekend Wrap Up

And what a fabulous weekend it was!

My parents came into town for a visit and the weather was just beautiful. I made some delicious Coconut-Banada Coladas (hop on over to my craft blog to see the recipe) which we enjoyed on our backyard patio. Yay back yard!

We then enjoyed a yummy dinner at our local Indian restaurant. My parents have always loved Indian food (there are Indian takeout places all over the place in England), but as a kid I wouldn't touch it. In the past year or so it has become one of Trav and I's favorite foods to eat out! (food photos for you - Abby!)

We indulged in some samosas for appetizers...

I ate chicken tikka masala for my entree. Delicious! And plenty for leftovers, too! (it reheats really well)



After dinner we headed back to the house to relax. Sunday morning we grabbed breakfast and did some shopping before my parents headed home. Thanks for coming, guys!

On Sunday afternoon Travis mowed the lawn while I sat on the patio and soaked up some rays (with sunscreen this time!) The grass is actually looking pretty darn good. Bella enjoys laying on the cool grass in the shade.


Sunday evening we headed to a local pub where Travis is a member of the Beer Mug Club (remember?) He was pleased to find that his beer mug was ready to go! It's engraved with his first and last name, and member number (he was the 20th member!) It was hard to take a photo of, but you can kind of see it in the pictures above.

It was a nice, relaxing way to end the weekend. I love restaurants where you can sit outside, don't you?

Hope your weekend was as lovely as ours!

Tea time?

It's been a bit of a strange week really. What with coming off the holiday weekend, feeling sick all day Monday, and some quirkiness and both work and home - it's been a bit of a doozy.

This morning I'm sneezing like it's my job. Believe it or not I think I have some mild pet dander allergies (I woke up with a cat in my face today!) which is ironic since I have three four legged friends in my house!

Anyhoo... I was feeling kind of crappy and unmotivated. So natually I reached for the coffee. This is ALSO ironic considering I refused to touch coffee for the longest time. Got through all of college without a sip. Now it pumps through my veins most days.

I digress.

So I was about to put the coffee pot on when I saw this...


Some gourmet teas that my dear friend Alison (Hi, Alison!) had given me in a bag of hand-selected goodies for helping with her bridal shower. Now, while the gift was totally unnecessary (I was MORE than happy to help!) who doesn't love a little bag of treats? The best gifts I swear are little odds and ends - soaps, teas, candies, candles, journals - selected with love and packaged prettily (this package from Alison had dried lavender tied to it!)

I digress again!

Back to the tea... I spotted it this morning and thought it would be the perfect pick me up! Look how cute the little tea bags are - and the little leaf that hangs over the edge of your cup!


Maybe it's the British in me... but this cuppa tea has just mellowed me out and got me refocused for the day. That's a good thing since I have all kinds of work to do - and a house to clean (my parents are coming to visit for the weekend - yay!)

Relax, sip, and enjoy! Have a great day everyone!

My little froggies!

I really enjoy my job. As a development professional - I have the opportunity to raise funds and ensure success of an organization that is bringing the arts to kids who would not have the opportunity to participate otherwise. That's pretty cool.

After college and before I landed in development, first with Opera Grand Rapids and now here at GAAH, I did a hodge podge of things for a living. I was retail extraordinaire for awhile (Bath & Body Works, The Gap, Barnes & Noble), I worked School Age Child Care, and was a summer camp counselor.

The transition to a desk job has been a challenge. I like to be up on my feet doing things. Although I'd never want to be a teacher full time, I have missed the interaction with kids that I have had in past jobs. This summer however, I've had the opportunity to teach here at GAAH - both art and theatre lessons at least once a week.

Now, imagine being faced with weekly theatre lessons with a group of 3-6 year old ESL students - some of whom don't speak English at all. Hm... challenging would be an understatement! I've really struggled the first couple of weeks - but am finally figuring it all out.

I picked up a great book from Scholastic of short plays for emergent readers. Now, not even half of my kids can read yet - but there are a handful of confident readers - so I utilized those kids and found other "roles" for the rest of the students.

Today our class was about frogs. We talked about the sounds frogs make and the way they move - and tried them ourselves! Then, we made frog stick puppets to use in our play. My assistant and I read the play, and students used their frog puppets to "hop" along when the story called for them to do so.


I then took my readers, and worked on the lines of the play with them. No acting, just reading in loud, clear voices. Meanwhile, my assistant worked with the rest of the group to create their "set." Using a large piece of paper they created a backdrop - they drew a pond, sun, lilypads, etc.


Then it was time to put everything together! I had some students hold up our backdrop, my readers sit in front with their scripts, and the rest of the kids sit and stand in front of the drop with their frog puppets. The readers read, and the froggies hopped their puppets to the story.


We performed in front of the staff and the older kids class - and it was fabulous! The students were so focused and proud of themselves. They got a great round of applause at the end and took their bows.

I am thrilled - just thrilled with the way this lesson went. I really had to think outside the box to figure out how to make theatre activities approachable and teachable for this age group - and it so paid off. Now that I "get it" - I can't wait to plan the rest of the summer's lessons!

I'm so lucky to have the opportunity to work in the arts in so many ways!

In a food rut...

Travis and I are in a food rut.

Actually, we're almost always in a food rut.

Although Trav loves to cook, and I don't mind it, we're almost always...

a) too busy
b) too lazy... or ...
c) completely uninspired!

It's no good at all.

We grocery shop sporadically, and eat out way more than we should. What's more - when we eat out - it's the same old stuff.

That's really the biggest problem - no matter if we're cooking in, or eating out, we're always eating the same stuff. So boring, and generally not very flavorful or healthy.

Last night, we got home late from meetings and needed to grab something relatively fast. We made a bold step and headed over to a nearby Lebanese restaurant that we'd always talked about going to, but never actually visited.

We walked in, completely ignorant, having no idea what to order. It was kind of fun in a way!

We ordered takeout, and came home with... (excuse the photos, it was dark out...)

a combination plate of chicken tawook, kafta kabob and beef shwarma and...

an order of baba ghanouge (blend of roast eggplant, tahini, garlic, and lemon)

Our meal came with a lebanese salad with homemade dressing and lots of fresh pita!

Oh my goodness was it good! The combo was plenty to share, and everything was just so fresh and flavorful. We really enjoyed it. Such a nice change from our usual blah fare.

Which brings me to cooking. We want to get better... we really do! We always have the basic meats on hand - steaks, chicken, ground beef and turkey - in the freezer, and have a great farmers market down the street to utilize. I think we just get bored of basic chicken and vegetables, spaghetti, and the likes.

We're going to plough through our cookbooks (we have a ton!) and see if we can pull out some recipes that meet the following qualifiers for our lifestyle...

a) quick (this is key!)
b) flavorful
c) light (it IS summer after all!)

How about you? What are your favorite weeknight recipes? Do share - we need inspiration!

And on a completely unrelated note... Look what sprung up outside our house!


I thought that we had just a bunch of grasses taking over everything, and almost dug them up when I weeded and mulched the beds in the front of our house (closest to the street, across the sidewalk) and am SO glad I didn't!

I realized that they must be day lilies awhile ago, and was expecting bright orange flowers. Instead, we have these beautiful dark red ones! Sooo pretty! Can't wait for them all to bloom!



Happy Hump Day to you all! Don't forget to share some recipes with me!