Loss...

is a hard thing to comprehend.

Feeling beyond sad for a friend right now who recently lost her father.

The Best Dish I've Made in Ages...

 ...is poached figs.

Inspired by a Whole Living article about a method of cooking called Mise en place, I whipped up a few dishes last night. Most of these dishes were staples, like brown rice and lentils. But the pièce de résistance was by far the balsamic poached figs.

To find the article, you'll need to go to page 32 of the magazine (sorry, the recipe isn't online, yet).

Car(s), Trees and Groceries - Oh My!

This weekend has been one filled with acquisitions.

First, my in-laws stopped by and dropped off a car for me (a picture will follow this post shortly).

Not a brand, spanking new car, but definitely the best car ever - a free one!

It's my sister in law's old one. She just purchased herself a brand spanking new one and since the one she was driving was her parents, and since I've been trying to get my hands on a cheap one for months now, it was passed "down" to me. It has quite a bit of miles on it, is 12 years old and goes by the name of Stacie, but, hey, it's free! Yippee!

While the passing of the car was happening, another sweet thing was being gifted to me (and to the husband and babe), as well. A beautiful mural was painted in our spare bedroom/future babe's room by the illustriously-talented Lu G, my ultra awesome sister in law. It was her baby shower gift to us.

And with the accessibilty of a car of my own, I went and did my first grocery run! Whoopee! How very consumerist and domestic of me. ;)

On this week's agenda:

• Getting the car registered, inspected, etc. so that the title can be transferred, the car can be legally mine & a NC resident (what it's always dreamed of!)
• Getting the car seat installed at a fire station and figuring out where to do that
• Getting things settled with my case worker so I can get insurance for my little one
• La Leche League meeting to learn more about breastfeeding from those who know best
• Building and setting up our mini dryer (it was ordered yesterday!)

Oh - also - I'm 38 weeks pregnant, and counting!

Thankful For...

My husband - who can cook one mean bean, beer stew.


Having a healthy pregnancy.

My family. (My stepdad had surgery yesterday - send him lots of love & positive thoughts for his recovery.)

Living in a great town.

A job that means more than just a good paycheck.

Hard to Believe

Something you can only understand until you experience it for yourself:

Your baby's foot poking into your ribcage

My Husband, the Soup Maestro

Being the soup lover my husband is, he often takes dinner into his own hands and makes scrumptious creations. Often, he makes them right off the top of his noggin'.

Last night was one of those nights.

We went to the North Asheville Tailgate market this past weekend and bought a bagful of delicious local goodies. He used a bunch of these items in his soup de nuit (not de jour):

• Onions
• Leeks
• Tomatoes
• Potatoes
• Ittty Bitty Red Pepper
• Cucumbers

The meal turned out absolutely amazingly creamy, yet healthy.

That is, until you have four bowls of it...and put freshly grated Parmesan on it each time (husband's doing - not mine, if you can believe me).

As the Family Gets Bigger...

This weekend has been spent doing the usual baby preparations:

• Cloth diaper buying
• Baby items washing
• Reading the "birth day" list & checking it twice
• Reading more articles & books about breastfeeding, diapering, and sleeping.

30.5 weeks
(I debated long & hard
as to whether I should share this)

As of yesterday, I am 37 weeks pregnant and 3 weeks away from the due date. So that means I am now term and could have the baby at any moment! But I had another check-up on Friday and everything is still looking and sounding good. There are, of course, the usual pains, discomforts, fatigue and such, but overall I feel well.

The thing I feel the most, though, is that I want this baby out!

I hear some women get depressed and sad after the baby is out. Sad that the baby is no longer within them. But I am ready for this little guy, or girl, to come out! I'm ready to see what we've made, to interact with baby and to have energy again!

We have also just bought a new printer/copier/scanner. I'm way more excited about this then I should be, but nevertheless am. Starting Sept. 19th, I will be working from home. So for this reason, plus the fact that we will be printing baby pictures like crazy once the baby arrives, warrants this new electronic purchase.

We will also be buying a dryer with the next paycheck deposit. Right now, we have this nifty, little, portable washer. And it works wonders since our apartment doesn't have washer and dryer and hook-ups. But as the weather cools down, we will need the convenience of a dryer more urgently. As much as I love smell of clean clothes fresh out of the sunshine, the mountains will be getting chilly sooner than we know.

Here's the portable dryer we're looking at.

And speaking of pictures, while I was reading this fave of fave blogs, I was introduced to Pinhole Press. I know, just know, that we will be using this company for this year's holiday gifts for the family (adorable first baby book, anyone?).

Thanks for Reading...

Welcome to my new blog!

I recently got married in May of this year.

I am nine months pregnant and everyday the "big" day" gets closer.

I work at an awesome non-profit.

I also love to craft and cook, and I hope to make that my living one day soon.

I hope to use this blog as a useful way to document my thoughts and adventures in crafting, cooking, loving and being a new mom.