Today, I made muffins. Delicious, fresh from the oven muffins.

There was whole wheat flour and strawberries. There was a little bit of lemon zest involved in the goodness also. But, before you start thinking these are healthy muffins, there was definitely butter and sugar involved too. I wanted to add some oats to them too, but the husband thought that would make them too healthy.

Church, and baking is how I've spent the first day of the month so far. It's May! It feels like the year is practically over! Okay, not quite, but it does seem that the months are passing rather quickly. Which makes me think about all the things I'd like to do before the year is over. I have an ever-growing list in my head, but I thought it would help to actually put them down in words. I suppose some are resolutions, but most are just new things I want to try before the year is over.

Here are just a few items on the list:

1. Host a wine and cheese party - adam and i have been wanting to do this for over a year; it's time to make it happen!

2. Make homemade cinnamon rols- i'll definitely be using pioneer woman's recipe.

3. Make fresh, homemade pasta.

4. Complete Couch to 5K so that I can .....

5. Actually run in a 5K, and finish it!

6. Introduce myself to people I don't know at church - I am soooo bad at this.

7. Plant some flowers in our yard. I've been a little resistant to this since we're just renting, but it's time to make this place a bit prettier.

8. Hike a new trail - I've done several here in the upstate, but there are still so many more beautiful trails to hike, many with waterfalls!

9. Visit a winery.

10. Go apple/strawberry/blueberry picking.

This is a short list, but I hope to keep adding to it a little at a time. Knowing myself, if I add much more to it at once, I'll just get overwhelmed. So we'll keep it here for now.

Happy Sunday!

This Weekend I....

- slept in

- made from-scratch waffles for saturday morning breakfast

- explored new cookbooks at barnes and noble

- read some of this book in cleveland park

- heard an amazingly, complex and convicting sermon here

- celebrated the resurrection of my Savior

- watched The King's Speech (amazing movie, and bonus: it stars colin firth!)

- went for a bike ride

- hosted Sunday lunch for old and new friends

A wonderfully fun and relaxing weekend indeed.

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;

by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,

make many to be accounted righteous,

and he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,

and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,

because he poured out his soul to death

and was numbered with the transgressors;

yet he bore the sin of many,

and makes intercession for the transgressors.

~Isaiah 53: 10-12

He is Risen!

I Roasted a Chicken!

For the first time. Ever.

Oh happy day!

Thoughts of roasting a chicken have been in my head for the last couple weeks. I had never done it before, and I was a little nervous. Finally, I decided I was going to roast one this past Sunday.

I used an Ina Garten recipe - she had never failed me before, and she didn't this time either. The chicken was amazing - it was so moist and tender. Yummmm. The veggies I cooked up with it had amazing flavor from the chicken juices. I am definitely planning on making this again in the near future. It was super easy, and produced fabulous results!

The part I was most nervous about was cleaning out the chicken. I got our chicken from Trader Joe's and to my happiness, the insides were already cleaned out - all the gross stuff had already been removed. Number 547 why I love Trader Joe's.

And for once in my life, I actually took pictures of the preparation and cooking process.

Veggies that I chopped and roasted with the chicken - onions, celery, carrot, sweet potato, and my fav, mushrooms!

Garlic and lemon that I stuffed into the chicken cavity

Preparing to lather the chicken in butter - hellooooo treadmill!

Chicken covered in salt, pepper, butter, and thyme. I think next time I'll add lemon zest.

And the final result

And onto my plate - so delicious and I can't wait to make this again!

I recently just read a blog post where there was a list of some of the author's most favorite books. As I've said in previous posts, I love to read. Because of work, I often don't have time these days to read much more than journals. I used to spend more summers growing literally glued to my stack of library books. That was the highlight of my summer - going to the library every few weeks to get a fresh batch of books to read. Nerdy, yes. But oh man, the stories I've read.

I love to reflect on the books I've read, and it's always fun to put them in list form :) So, here are some of my all-time favorite books. Some of these books I've read several times, and this is a list that is constantly being added to.

The Counte of Monte Cristo - this is my all-time favorite, i don't even know how many times i've read it. and the movie, although well-done, does not even come close to the amazingness of this book.

To Kill a Mockingbird

Pride and Prejudice

The Diary of Anne Frank

The Pact - really, every Jodi Picoult book I've read has been amazing

The Ragamuffin Gospel

Beach Music

Harry Potter

The Hunger Games - this is a 3-book series, I've read the first two so far. these books are fiction, and have a very interesting story line

Bel Canto - i was hooked after the first sentence

I Capture the Castle

The Blind Assassin

Just thinking about these books and all the amazing books that are out there that I have yet to read makes me want to become part of a book club. Anyone???

O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

Out of the mouth of babes and infants,

you have established strength because of your foes,

to still the enemy and the avenger.

When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

what is man that your are mindful of him,

and the son of man that your care for him?

Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet,

all sheep and oxen, and also the bets of the field,

the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!

~ Psalm 8.

Oh how I needed to hear these words this morning.

One thing people may learn quickly after being in my home is that I love to read.

Anything.

Books, magazines, medical journals, cookbooks - we have an abudance of these.

I enjoy fiction in particular -there are shelves filled with all sorts of fiction. From Harry Potter to Edgar Allen Poe's short stories.

But I digress. What I really want to talk about is my obscene love for Pride and Prejudice. I'm pretty sure every girl in my 8th grade English class has a mild obsession with this book. Near the end of the year, our teacher used the entire week to show us the 5 hour BBC version of Pride and Prejudice, with Colin Firth.

I have loved it since, but did not actually read the book until high school. Jane Austen writes beautifully and the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy are one of the most complex in all literature. If you have not yet read this book, or seen the movie, you must. And soon. If you don't have time for the BBC version, the Keira Knightley version, is also very well done.

But seriously, why would you not want to watch a movie with Colin Firth in it?