bookends

My morning got off to a fun start today.  Todd got up really early to appear on the radio!  That’s right, my fiancé is now a radio star or at least he was today.  The “Mrs.” half of our marriage mentorship couple invited Todd to appear with her on a local public radio show to talk about why he wants to get married.  I woke up a few minutes before 7:00 to make sure I’d catch his whole appearance.  We don’t have a radio in the house (so modern we are!) so I had the webpage for live streaming ready to go before I went to bed but unfortunately it wasn’t working this morning.  I spent about 10 more minutes searching the house for a radio unsuccessfully.  Finally, I opened the door to the garage, rolled down my car window and blasted the radio so I could hear it while I was getting ready.  Not conventional but it worked.  Todd was a natural during the interview and hearing him talk about our relationship and his feelings about marriage was such an uplifting and reassuring way to start my Tuesday.

Unfortunately my work day wasn’t as great, far too stressful BUT it’s over so let’s not dwell on that.  Nothing a good glass of Zinfandel couldn’t fix!

 

You’ll notice not one but two decanters in the background behind the bottle of wine – both gifts from our couples shower on Saturday.  As I said to Todd earlier – no reason “decant” keep both of them!

After work I had a weird craving for a scramble, specifically a sweet potato scramble inspired by my favorite menu item on the dearly departed Bloom‘s brunch menu.  I stopped by Ric’s to pick up some egg whites and a sweet potato.  Strangely, only “yams” were available but after bringing my yam home, cutting it up, cooking and eat it, I’m convinced it was actually a sweet potato not a yam at all.  Making this scramble is so easy and it tastes delicious.

First I diced the yam/sweet potato into small chunks and boiled them.

The I mixed the chunks in with liquid egg whites and cooked them up – easy as pie!  I like to add in a bit of cumin, cinnamon, a touch of ginger and a dash of cayenne pepper so give it a little spice.

 

 

 

While the scramble was cooking I toasted a few slices of fresh bread with a little olive oil and once it was cooked, topped them with the scramble, seasoned with salt and pepper and topped it with some sharp cheddar and Dubliner cheese.  Any cheese will do, that’s just what we had in the house.  I love this easy, fiber and protein-packed meal!

 

I can’t wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow on an English muffin for breakfast.

 

Todd and I spent a little time working on our marriage mentoring homework.  This first portion was fairly painless but I know there will be some things coming up that are harder to discuss.  I’m excited to really embark on this process though, I’ve been looking forward to our marriage mentoring for months and I can’t wait to really take this opportunity to get to know Todd better, build our strengths and tackle the issues we struggle with.

 

All in all, my morning and night were great bookends to a mediocre day and I’m grateful for that.

 

Looking forward to shaking my asana at yoga tomorrow night and remembering to breathe during the day.

 

What is your favorite breakfast-for-dinner meal?

How do you like to unwind after a long day at work?

 

one saturday, two showers

Yesterday I was lucky enough to be the guest of honor at not one but two bridal showers.  How lucky am I!?  Well, I should point out, one bridal shower and one couples shower where Todd had a place as co-guest of honor.

My first shower was hosted by my aunts and sister for all of the ladies on my mom’s side of the family.  As if being able to spend the room with a group of women who I love and have helped shape me from a young age weren’t enough, my Aunt Lori, Aunt Judi and Em went all out to make the shower really special.  Lunch was amazing, a beautiful smorgasbord of chicken pot pie, salad, fruit kebabs (expertly skewered by the youngest shower attendee, my cousin Claire) and decadent desserts.  We played a game where we had to attempt to match up couples’ wedding photos with their 50th anniversary pictures.  It was fun, really challenging and a great reminder of where Todd and I are aiming – we’ll be celebrating our golden anniversary in no time!  We wrapped up the afternoon with a wine tasting that featured wines from places that mean something to me: Argentina, Spain and Northern Michigan.  All of the little details like that made the day so special, I loved every minute of it.  My talented photographer cousin, Rebecca, was in charge of capturing the day on film and I can’t wait to see and share her shots!

In between showers, I meant to bake a batch of the Cookies and Cream cupcakes I found at howsweeteats.com the other day but Em and I ran some errands and also, out of time.  Thankfully, Todd is amazing so he whipped up a double batch of them so we’d have dessert at the shower.  They turned out so delicious, the frosting tasted just like Oreo cream, yummy!

Our second shower was hosted by my maid of honor and sister, Emily along with Todd’s best man, Travis.  Todd’s parents graciously lent us their house for the night and let us take it over with about 25 friends.  It was great for our friends to intermingle and get to know each other and so fun to have an excuse to get everyone together.  Dinner was my favorite, pizza – yum!  We spent the night chatting, eating, playing Todd and Kate trivia and just enjoying time together.  I feel so lucky to have such a great group of friends support us and I’m so lucky to have my sister as my maid of honor.  She is so generous and thoughtful, I couldn’t ask for anything better.  Thanks to all of our friends for their generous gifts and spending the evening with us.

What was the best part of your bridal shower?