Happy Homemaker Monday - June 20, 2011

I'm linking up today with Diary of a Stay at Home Mom and Happy Homemaker Monday.

The weather in my neck of the woods:

The weatherman has promised some sun this week. I'm certainly not holding my breath.



Things that make me happy:

I've been trying to come up with some activity that is universal from our 21-year-old at-home college student down to our youngest at nine that all of us can do together at least once month. You would be surprised how hard it is to find a) a time-frame that works for everyone and b) something all ages are able to participate in. So for June, we spent a day hiking this weekend and all had a great time.

Book I'm reading:

I'm working on my magazine stack which includes Woman's Day, Better Homes and Gardens, and Martha Stewart Living.

What's on my TV today:

We did watch the new True Grit from Redbox and then hubby wanted to watch the old version as well. Amazed at the similarity between the two.

On the menu for dinner:

I pulled out a frozen pork shoulder this weekend. And since I'm always on the quest for the 'perfect' recipe or method, I cooked half of it in the oven at a low temperature covered with foil until it reached 205 degrees internally. Good and tender but not much flavor. Then I put the other half on the Traeger grill and smoked it, gradually increasing the temperature up to 275 as my patience for it to be done wore thin, until it reached the same internal temperature. It tasted out of this world and was still drop-dead tender and easily shred. Definitely going to be my choice for now on.

On my To Do List:

I need to start planning both girls' homeschool curriculum for next year, as we need to place our book order some time in early July with the charter school.

New Recipe I tried or want to try soon:

I have a lot of endive from the garden. I need to find a good salad recipe that will offset its tangy flavor that the kids are not fond of.

In the craft basket:

As much as I would love to venture back into crafting, gardening seems to take up my free time.

Looking forward to this week:

As selfish as this sounds, our 17-year-old is heading off to football camp this week, which means...I will no longer be wracking my brain for food ideas to keep him filled up. They eat at the college and pretty much get all the food they want during the camp. I told him to fill 'er up.

Tips and Tricks:

If I could remember to cold brew my coffee the night before so that I would have it ready to drink iced the next day, I would so love it. It's so easy and tastes far better than trying to ice down fresh brewed. I guess I just need some sort of a reminder system for myself.

My favorite blog post this week:

Brighton Park has a video on her site of her neice's wedding which included a surprise for the groom by the wedding party singing a capella to him. It's worth checking out it was so creative and yet special.

Blog Hopping:

Have you ever visited Food Gawker? Oh my. Do so and be prepared for deliciousness.

No words needed:

Lesson learned the past few days:

I just need to come to grip with the fact that I cannot get everything I want to do accomplished in 24 hours. It's best to just spend a set amount of time and then move on to something else. By attempting the all-or-nothing method, other responsibilities get neglected and become difficult to restore.

On my mind:

With my football player heading off to camp this week...that is if he clears his Impact test after a slight concussion last week...I sure do hope he stays safe. Being on the sidelines for half of his sophomore year with an ACL reconstruction and out his entire junior year due to his Lisfranc fracture, we all hope he can get in just one more solid year of football.


Devotionals, Scripture Reading, Key Verses:

From my devotional that I have sent to my feed reader daily:

All of these examples caused me to realize that God often uses seemingly under-qualified individuals to accomplish His will. Perhaps He knows their weakness will cause them to lean all the more on Him, or He wants to make it clear that any success comes from Him and not any one of us. Whatever His reasoning, it is clear that God is not as concerned with our abilities as He is with our availability. If God has called us to a certain task, we ought to be willing. That is all He requires. He will supply the ability.

Enjoy your week!