friends – Page 3 – Copper Acorn

by Alexis - June 9, 2010

Spontaneous Tuesday Night Get-together

Last night we had some friends over. It was spontaneous and I realized how much I missed just having people over and hanging. We need to do it more. I have some friends ask me what I make or serve for those times. Basically whatever I have in the house. I did go out to the store testerday and buy puffed pastry. Everything else I had in my cupboard.

Fetta cheese, Kalamata Olives, Green Greek olives stuffed with Garlic cloves, Green olives stuffed with Blue Cheese (Safeway, olive counter. I just bought a combination bag $7), Asian Cream Cheese Spread with Crackers, Fruit tarts (strawberry, peach and blueberries) and finally chocolate galore (people keep giving us chocolate-please stop!).

And our wonderful friends. Brandon, Becky and Amelia. 🙂

On a different note, we’re gong to the beach this weekend and I’m really looking forward to it. My sister is coming to help watch Emma for the weekend. Thank you Jamie! Really looking forward to that. 🙂

by Alexis - March 1, 2010

Carrots, Friends and Coloring

So this will be a complilation of things that has been in my mind.

One: I was looking through Barfoot Contessa’s book and decided that I was going to make her roasted veggies for a side to dinner last night. I do not like carrots in general but wow! They were great! Naturally sweet and salty too. Awesome.

Simply lather in olive oil, salt and pepper. Bake at 400’F. About 15 min was all. One helpful hint is to remember to keep everything the same size, that way things cook at the same time.

Secondly: Emma has been in heaven having some of her best friends over to play. I was able to capture some ADORABLE pictures. Kinzie and Josiah, thank you for hanging out with us!

All togther now: Awwwww!

Kids have the BEST expressions. Period. There are days when I don’t feel like myself, but then I just have to hang with Emma to get a better perspective.

Lastly: When Emma was an infant I told people that I looked forward to seeing her be creative in whatever way she wants to be. I said that if she wanted to be a tattoo artist, I would support it and be proud of her. I guess she was listening to me.

by Alexis - January 14, 2010

Our time here in Krakow

We are feeling less like visitors staying in someone’s home and beginning to see what it will be like for us to live here. It is exciting and a little nervous. We’re using our polish as much as we can though, and speaking it a lot more in our home. It’s growing my courage enough to order cheese from the grocery lady by myself. A lot of giggling and pointing on my part and smiles on hers; so gracious. People here are SO nice and are patient with us. I’m noticing that I speak a lot quieter when I’m unsure if I’m saying the right thing and what I need to do is just boldly speak it out. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow. We’re staying in a little comfortable flat that is 50 sq. meters. I could get used to living in a smaller place, it’s just nicer, cozier…who said bigger is better?! For diner I made one of Travis’ favorite Polish soups. Zurek, a salty soup that has sausage and hard boiled eggs. We had it with grilled cheese (gouda) sandwiches. Yummy, and great on a cold day. We already had pirogi on the first day (my favorite). I know a lot of you told me to take pictures of the foods here and I promise to start- tomorrow.

As we landed at the airport, we saw snow everywhere. It’s so beautiful and not too cold, although today there was a wind and nobody likes that. I dressed Emma up like an abominable snowman, er I mean snow baby. Some observations: When a faster person is walking behind someone who is slower, the slow person stands to the side and lets the fast person pass. Common courtesy. Not too common in Gresham, it’s nice. In the grocery stores (I’m buying all our food and am enjoying it!) There are no shortages of packets. They like their packets of soup, mixes, spices, marinades and everything else you could want. It’s incredible and I always smile when I pass the walls of packets. They do have peanut butter (a favorite of mine) but it’s a little expensive. I’m sitting at a mall with free wifi but it won’t allow uploads…horrible! I took pictures of the flat and I guess you’ll see them later. We’ll find a place that allows it-I hope.

The kitchen is nice, and I’m realizing that I don’t really need a dishwasher. It’s not a hassle for me to hand wash everything, but I’ve only been here for a short while- we’ll see. I am dependant on ovens though. While ‘living’ here it will prove to be a challenge to cook everything on a stovetop. But, as Travis says, I like that challenge and it hasn’t proven to be an obstacle yet. Emma is L-O-V-I-N-G all the time and attention from daddy. I could get used to him not working and staying with us all day…well maybe. 😉 I must say that my butt is being kicked by jet lag. Man, I want to pass out around 10am and then 3pm…I took naps with Emma today and it saved my life. Literally people. I’m frustrated by the lack of wifi. I would be posting everyday if I could. Sorry about that. We’re meeting with a missionary tomorrow at a coffee shop Coffee Heaven (which is far better than any Starbucks). We’ll be visiting friends in a nearby town from Friday to Saturday. They have a little girl and I know Emma and Esterka will love each other.

***On the flight over, Emma slept and didn’t yell once. She showed all those people who gave us the evil eye, as we boarded, that they were wrong. Hah, so there. (tongue sticking out) I was praying like nuts that she would do fine. The flight from Chicago to Krakow was 9 hrs 30 min. She is getting used to the time change, and I think she’ll be fine in a couple days. OK, people, time to go to bed- it’s 9:30 and Trav is a walking zombie, Emma is stalling with her toy laptop (what a savior mom!) and I’m finishing this. Dowidenzia!

by Alexis - October 24, 2009October 24, 2009

It is done!

The party came and went last night and I can say that from my perspective it went well. I only wish I had a backyard for the kiddos to run around and go crazy in. Oh, well. Emma was, of course, Snow White. I actually dressed up as a cow girl, who I was later told I looked like a farmer. Huh, better work on that. Emma had a lot of fun, pushing a stroller full of babies, eating brownies and playing with her friends. She had her moments of being overloaded and wanting to snuggle with me- which I ate up with a spoon.

Brandon and Becky

I had been fighting a stress headache the entire day and knew that when the party was over I could start relaxing. We even had a dear couple (above pictures) who stayed behind and they helped us clean the house! It meant so much to me. They even left and came back with TACO BELL! And that is a serious love language for me…they are so sweet and thoughtful. They even babysit Emma randomly when I’m calling the day of. Good friends are important to have. They also both have blogs so please go check them out. Go here to see Becky’s and here to see Brandon’s. THANK YOU GUYS FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART!

Aren’t these mini Pumpkin Cupcakes ADORABLE?! A girlfriend friend made them, go here to see her blog, and they were a bit hit. Thank you Amy!

Another girlfriend made these- check out her blog here. The leaf and pumpkin muffins made with spice batter was so YUMMY! I think they just perfectly capture fall.

I didn’t have a shirt so I had to borrow from Trav’s side of the closet. Eyeliner for the ‘freckles’ and the hat is vintage- it was Trav’s as a young boy…either I have a tiny head or he had an enormous head as a toddler. 🙂

The children’s activity- coloring pumpkins. The older kids took this very seriously and the younger one’s thought it was more fun to color on our coffee table. Good thing they were washable and just cleaned right up. It sure made the parents sweat with fear. hehe

“Oh my goodness!”

All 9 children who came. It was so cute! Costumes in order: Snow White, Cowboy (even with chaps!), Ballerina, Kitty, Samurai Warrior, Kitty, Lady bug (Emma’s BFF), Cheerleader and Robin Hood. SO SUPER COOL, but a bit crazy too. So how did I wind down?…..

TACO BELL BABY! *sigh…ah, now I can start relaxing. This was Trav and my dinner, at around 9pm. Yikes.

If you want me to do something for you- Taco bell is close to my heart. I’m going to upload more pictures of friends and Emma onto her blog later today so check it out!

by Alexis - September 11, 2009September 11, 2009

Morning Adventures with Alexis

What you are about to read is the actual turn of events as they happened:

Waking up at 6:30am is brutal. I know I can’t complain, but jeesh! I have a lot of respect for Trav and everyone else who wakes up before 7:30am. Unfortunately we woke up at 6:30am and rushed to get dressed, eat breakfast (most important meal of the day people!) and leave the house by 7am. Oh, did I mention it was ALL 3 of us? Yeah, we rock. Anyways, we drove downtown, dropped Trav off at work and I ventured onward to the zoo with visions of Cheetahs in my mind. We arrived at 7:55am and it didn’t open till 8am, so perfect timing!….but wait a minute…no body’s here…hmmm. My friend and I were the ONLY people there. That’s strange. At that moment we looked up at the reader and saw in bright red letters, “OPEN 9-6pm” Oh holy crap. Good thing we hurried to get here on time or woke up at the butt crack of dawn. Of course we have our daughters all strapped in their strollers and both of us look at each other and busted up laughing. What else could you do right?!

So we decided to go on a little morning adventure. We took the MAX (light rail for the Portland metro) into downtown Portland. It was SO beautiful! The sun was shining, the girls were content with being strapped into their strollers and we had no idea where we were going. It was GREAT fun for me! We didn’t EXACTLY buy tickets but looked like mindless mommies and anyways, if the transit police stopped us we would just sound apologetic and ask for forgiveness. 🙂 Horrible I know. Anyhoo, we stopped at a random stop and strolled until we found a random, and quite fancy, donut shop. All I have to say is, ‘Yum, yum, yum!’ Emma, of course wanted nothing to do with my delish raspberry filled donut and wanted to just walk around. It was so relaxing and cool. Of course I took pictures! Food is a favorite of mine to photograph. When we were finished we jumped on the train (took a new one on the way back and boy are they nice!), talked about scary spider stories and arrived at the zoo to find about 200 mommies and their whinny toddlers waiting to enter the zoo! Yeah. Crap. Did we get in? You’ll just have to wait and see. 🙂 I’ll post part 2 tomorrow. Enjoy the pictures!