will I ever blog again?

The neglect around these parts it astounding. Has a little blog ever been so discarded by it's proprietor? Yes, I'm sure it is probably a very common fate for many the unfortunate blog, and I'm sad to have to put myself in the bad blogger column, maybe forever.

I would love to keep a chronicle of our life, the ups and downs and everyday-ness of it, but evidently I don't want to as much as I want to pick up a book, or watch basketball, or work on a project, etc., ect, because those are the things I inevitably do.

Ah well. If I am taking the time, I want to say in fast forward what has been going on. Graham is almost ONE. He is amazing. Funny, sweet, playful, hungry and adventurous. Adrienne and Marianna are busy bees, loving their brother, gymnastics, school, church, and playing. Nathan and are daily throwing around ideas for our upcoming (still 6 months away, but yes, upcoming) 10th anniversary. Today's look: Costa Rica. Seems risky though. If we don't like it, we are pretty much stuck. On the other hand, what's not to like?

There we are in a nutshell. I can't wait for Thanksgiving. I'm already excited about Christmas. Life is busy, full, and very, very filled with amazing and undeserved blessings from Jesus.

And of course, a quick picture collage of the kids:

Christmas in the Valley 2011

That's right... it's that time again! For all my Memphis area friends, I really hope you're able to make it out to my mom's annual Christmas craft fair extravaganza... Christmas in the Valley! It will be on November 19 from 10-3, and it is completely open to the public! So, brings you friends and family and come out for a fun-filled day of shopping! There will be about 20 vendors, and they'll all be offering incredible one day only discounts! Check out the website for more details, and don't forget to go enter the giveaway!

c in the v flyer 2011

Twins?

Graham at 5.5 months

Marianna at 5.5 months

What do you think? I think it's wild. My two identical twins 5 years apart.

Happiness

this boy serves it up every day!

What's for dinner?

Lately, my answer to this very often asked question usually comes from my gold mine of a recipe go to place: allrecipes.com.

I know there are a bunch of different recipe websites out there, but this one has been the perfect fit for me. For starters, it has a recipe for just about whatever I can think of, so if I want to get a recipe for something specific, it's easy. I also love the reviews. I rarely ever make a dish just as it is written, since I find so many great suggestions from the people who have already forged that new territory before me. I've also been impressed by how many great meal ideas I've found by searching around on the website.

Since I started using allrecipes.com frequently, it has become my goal to try at least one new recipe a week. That doesn't sound impressive at all, and it's not, but it is definitely breaking ground for me. I have had a set of staple recipes that I have run into the ground over the past nine years, and since I'm nothing like my creative, food wizard of a sister-in-law, it was a rarity to try something new. But this makes it easy for me, and since it has been easy, I've done it. And after doing it, I've found that it is really fun to try something new on a weekly basis! For a non culinary expert like myself, it has made meals something exciting and worth the wait. If you have been in the same boat as me, try it out! I don't think you will be disappointed.

odds and ends

Last night I found that Marianna had taped a piece of paper around a cross I have on the kitchen counter. I went for a closer look and found she had written "King of the Jews".

Today I went to went to the movie theatre with all three kids. There were moments when I felt like I had bitten off a little more than I could chew, but really overall, it was fine. I can't tell you the entire plot of Kung Fu Panda 2, but I got enough to think it was a pretty cute sequel.

Tonight I'm running in my first race in almost two years. Yikes! I don't know how much "zoom" there will be in my "zoom through the zoo" but I think it should be fun.

Today this is what Nathan discovered when he got out of his car at work.

I really got a kick out of that.

A day of Celebration

May 24th was a big day in the Luce house for two big reasons. First of all, May 24th is our anniversary, and yesterday we celebrated nine years of sharing life together. Isn't that crazy?! I just turned 29 last week, so it seems wild that we've already been married almost a decade. But I wouldn't have it any other way. I am so grateful for the man I am married to. He is really, truly an amazing person. He is a man who loves God and his family above everything else, and I cannot imagine life without him. Being married to a person like him for nine years is definitely a reason to celebrate!

As if that were not enough, yesterday also brought to completion a LONG awaited home improvement project in our flower beds. Last year I began losing the battle against bermuda that I had been fighting ever since we built our house back in 2003. It was so entrenched in our beds, that it eventually became more effective to use the weed whacker than gardening gloves. It was demoralizing, and eventually, I threw in the towel. By fall, I had given the bed over to the bermuda, hopeless and discouraged. This spring, things got worse than ever. Several plants died; the grass grass continued to thrive. It was a bad scene. Nathan saw my despair and decided the best plan of attack was a total re-haul of the flower beds. We decided to build a stone wall to give a more formidable barrier between the bermuda and the beds, before we took out all the dirt, all the plants, and started with a clean slate.

The wall construction has been going on over the past few weeks, and finally yesterday we activated the final stage, digging out the old dirt, adding the new, and incorporating brand new plants in our landscaping. It was a beautiful thing.

Nathan and I celebrated both events by going out to dinner at a place we had never been and trying out dishes we had never tasted. My moussaka (grilled eggplant layered with meet and something fluffy) was incredible!! Definitely a day of celebration all the way around.