Vegetarian Cheesesteak

If you're a vegetarian or just trying to limit your meat intake, you need to try this recipe. It's so easy and delicious.



Ingredients:

2 hoagie rolls
cheese of choice
mustard
grilled peppers and onions
sesame garlic or lemon pepper tempeh (found in vegetarian section of your local grocery store)

Heat 1-2 T oil in pan. Grill tempeh strips for 5-6 mins, turning frequently until browned. In separate pan, fry chopped green peppers & onions until tender. Throw it all together in a hoagie roll. I promise you won't be disappointed.

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Birthdays & wedding crashing

So much has happened since my last update: we celebrated my mom's birthday, I attended a concert w/ my oldest friends and I crashed a wedding.

But first, here's what I was up to at 2:30 a.m. last night.



I'll spare you the gory details but I let my dog out last night to do her business-before-bedtime thang and discovered her rolling around in unmentionable things. My husband and I were thoroughly disgusted. After I absent-mindedly let her out this morning, she raced to the scene of the crime and repeated her actions from the previous night. That + an afternoon swim in the nearby lake resulted in two more baths. That's three baths in less than 24 hours.



In other news, my parents recently spent the weekend with us. We celebrated my mom's birthday, taught my dad to play x-box and just plain old relaxed.







Last weekend I traveled home to attend a Hole concert with my oldest friends (who happen to be sisters). I've known them for 22 years! We used to reenact Courtney Love/Hole music videos when we were kids so it was kind of like coming full circle to finally attend one of her concerts so many years later.



I also crashed a wedding with my mom. She was invited; I was not. Fwiw, she rsvp'd for two people but my dad couldn't make it so I was her official date. There were definitely some surprised faces (even though they were family) and that's all I have to say about that!

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Skywriting & Grudges

We saw this on our way home from grocery shopping. I couldn't make out what it said but I haven't seen skywriting since I was a kid. It was a nostalgic moment for me.... ruined by my husband who said they were probably poisonous chemtrails. 




Raise your hand if your mother gave you a horrible haircut when you were a child.



Raise your hand if you still see that haircut everywhere, as an adult.

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New Shoes!!

Yesterday, we went to the Track Shack, this awesome store for runners here in Orlando. I picked up a new pair of shoes and am so excited to try them out this week. In previous posts, I mentioned that I'm recovering from two injuries. One serious ankle sprain from last year and a slightly less troublesome arch strain that occurred a few months ago. It's been four weeks since I've gone running.

In food related news, check this out:

This is homemade ice-cream (no fancy machinery required). Mocha flavored. You need to try this. Recipe found here. All you need is sour cream, whipping cream, salt, instant coffee, chocolate syrup, sweetened condensed milk, 5 mins of prep and six hours of patience. Sure, if you eat too much your butt will have its own zip code but it's worth it!

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Father's Day

I was fortunate enough to have two dads in my life. My wonderful step-dad above and my (now passed) grandfather (seen below with my "mimi")

I miss these two people (above) so much.

And I can't leave out my husband who, though not yet a real father, is an amazing dad to our dog!

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memorial weekend

Yikes, I haven't blogged in weeks. June has been quite eventful so far but let's talk about May. We saw the month off with a weekend of fun with friends & family. Memorial weekend was just that, memorable!

There was plenty of Rock Band. My husband is quite the entertainer.

Here he is with his youngest brother.

At one point, I turned around to find him pouring hot candle wax down the kitchen sink. Yeah. HOT CANDLE WAX. Not sure what he was thinking but I still love him.

Here he is on a different night.

There was backyard football.

We took family portraits

We stayed up past 2 a.m. playing the most ridiculously fun card games including "BS" which I renamed baloney (or bologna for you grammar nerds) and a pretty intense version of Uno. We also played a competitive game that involved five spoons. I've never laughed so hard.

We walked around downtown Disney.

And we ended our glorious weekend with a SLIP N SLIDE. Yes, we are five years old. We don't have a pool yet and won't be able to afford one for a while so we opted for a more economical way to cool off in the heat.

It didn't look as...safe....as I remembered. In fact, I bruised and bloodied my hip because I was too scared to do a full dive. Lame!

The brothers of course turned it into a competition of who can slide the fastest or furthest or something equally ridiculous. Funny to watch.

It felt good to enjoy the outdoors. Away from the lure of t.v.'s, computers and video games. All in all, it was one of the most fun weekends I've had in a long time.

That's as big of an update as I can muster up. There's a lot more going on in our household but I'll save that for a later post. God is leading us down a new and interesting path. The uncertainty of this new venture is something that I'm struggling with. My faith has always been firm but lately I feel like the disciples on that rocky boat, being buffeted by the rough waves. Thankfully for me, the Lord is greater than my fears and He has great plans for our family.

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out: "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," He said, "why did you doubt?" - Matthew 14:29

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steeple guide me

As far as the story behind my blog title (steeple guide me) is concerned, it's actually a lyric from one of my favorite songs, 33, by Smashing Pumpkins.
Here are the lyrics:

Speak to me in a language I can hear
Humor me before I have to go

Deep in thought, I forgive everyone
As the cluttered streets greet me once again

I know I can't be late
Supper's waiting on the table

Tomorrow's just an excuse away
So I pull my collar up and face the cold

On my own

The earth laughs beneath my heavy feet
At the blasphemy in my old jangly walk

Steeple guide me to my heart and home
The sun is out and up and down again

I know I'll make it
Love can last forever
Graceful swans of never
Topple to the earth
And you

Can make it last forever, you
Can make it last forever, you
Can make it last

And for a moment I lose myself
Wrapped up in the pleasures of the world

I've journeyed here and there and back again
But in the same old haunts I still find my friends

Mysteries not ready to reveal
Sympathies I'm ready to return

I'll make the effort
Love can last forever
Graceful swans of never
Topple to the earth
Tomorrow's just an excuse
Tomorrow's just an excuse and you
Can make it last, forever you

Pretty, no? I chose that particular line as my blog title because it spoke to me on a personal level. As a Christ follower, I use God's Word to guide me through the ins and outs of life. Therefore it was only appropriate that my blog title reflected some of that.

In other news, I've been avoiding the blog. Mostly because my husband has been hogging the laptop while he works on his book (!) but also because I haven't run in three weeks and have been so bummed about that. The arch in my left foot has been hurting for a few months now. I've been ignoring it for just as long. All the symptoms point to plantar fasciitis. I'm sure my cheap running shoes contributed to this injury but my husband theorized that it could have something to do with my ankle sprain back in October. Whatever it is, I'm not pleased. I plan to buy better quality shoes next week and see how I fare when I hit the pavement again.

This weekend, we finally got around to landscaping our front yard. For less than $50, too!

left side - before

left side - after

right side - before

 right side- after

 

Obviously, we still need to add more flowers but we're taking our time. 

That's about all the updates I have for now. I'm sure I'll be back sometime after the long weekend. My two brothers in law and their wife & girlfriend are staying with us. Should be fun!

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