This Week

What’s touching my heart and going on in my life this week…

I’m still working on training for my 10K race next spring. I am up to running all the way around my block and I’ve been doing walk-jog workouts 2-3 days per week. I am up to running a mile and a half. That’s huge for me considering I couldn’t even jog 1/6 of a mile to our mailbox when I started!

Michael dressed up in an amazing St. Nick costume on Monday night to deliver some surprise presents to the children of a friend of ours. Pictures coming as soon as I get them! 

This Wednesday is Gabriel’s 2nd birthday! We are taking him out to eat somewhere I think. On Saturday morning we are having a low-key cake-and-ice-cream party at the park behind our house. The weather should be lovely, so we’re excited. 

I haven’t purchased a single Christmas gift yet, but I’ve picked out a few gifts and written them down. Gift-giving is one of the weakest of the love languages for me, so I’m ashamed to say that I tend to procrastinate for gift-giving occasions. (2012 New Year’s Resolution: work on that!). 

I’m trying to return to more discipline in my daily life. With two children under two, though, I’ve fought the realization that I need to give myself some more leeway. I still can’t decide how much I’m willing to give myself. The fact is that I can’t do everything cleaning-wise (and blogging-wise?) that I did before I had Faith. I just can’t. I don’t know what can/needs to take a hit though…

Just for fun, here’s a delicious new white bean dish I got from my mom. I am not a huge bean fan, but I love these! Serve over some fluffy rice for a great winter meal 🙂

Colonel Vincent’s Southern Style Baked Beans
1lb Camellia Brand Navy (Pea) Beans or Great Northern Beans
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
1 ham bone
12 cups water
Salt and pepper to taste
Dash paprika
Dash garlic salt
3 Tbs tomato ketchup
2 Tbs Worcestshire sauce
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 lb sliced bacon

Directions:
Rinse and sort beans. Cover beans with water, add ham bone, onion, bell pepper, paprika, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Cook over low fire about 1-1/2 hours, or until tender. Remove ham bone. Add ketchup, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar, mixing lightly. Spoon half of the mixture in a baking dish, cover with ¼ pound sliced bacon. Spoon remaining half of the mixture into the baking dish and cover with remaining ¼ pound sliced bacon. Bake 1-1/2 to 2 hours in 350 degree oven.