August 28, 2009

consumer reports.

| Edit Post
hey guys, i'm starting a new category. when i find stuff that i like, i'll tell you about it. it will be fun.
right now i am bursting with good finds and i need to tell someone. so, i will be unloading my good (and maybe some bad) product reviews right here. i'm excited. not because i make all the right choices and can't wait to force my lofty shopping wisdom on you. no. that's not it. i want to do this because i know how fun it is to stroll down an aisle and see something that someone has raved about. you feel like you can get a taste of the glory too. so, let the raving (and maybe ranting) begin.
where i got mine. walmart
how much. mm. $2.97.. i think?
what about it. i've been wanting to get a plant-based cleaner for awhile now, but the only one i ever saw (that was affordable and available at walmart) was clorox green works. i don't care for the smell of green works at all, so i never buy it. 'cause when i clean my bathroom, it better smell mighty good when i'm done. anyway, this time down the cleaning aisle, i noticed this new stuff. i decided to give it a go.
review after use. totally awesome. it cleaned my sink and counter as well as any other cleaner and it smells like freshly squeezed oranges. which is, of course, one of the best smells in the world. yep, i'm pretty satisfied with my citrusy clean bathroom. can't wait 'til my sink needs another shine.
categories:, | 7 comments
August 26, 2009

grant's birthday cake

| Edit Post
a few years ago, grant's mom made up this awesome ice cream dessert. it's hard to give it a proper name, because there are so many important parts to it, and it would be sad to leave one of them out. this year grant asked for this particular dessert as his birthday cake, but he wanted me to put butterfinger bits on top instead of chocolate sauce. his wish was my command. introducing.. the butterfinger brownie cake. (it should really be called peanut butter-ice cream-butterfinger-brownie cake, but i shortened it for practical purposes. and for the alliteration. i love alliteration.)
grant's butterfinger brownie cake.
1 brownie mix (i used pillsbury family size chocolate fudge. i like that one.)
1 jar creamy peanut butter
vanilla ice cream
chocolate sauce for drizzling or pouring, depending on how much you love it.
(i melted chocolate chips and butter to make my sauce.)
1 butterfinger bar, chopped
1. using a 9 x 9 pan, bake brownies according to package directions.
2. spread a generous layer of peanut butter on top of cooled brownies. (i used about 3/4 of the jar on my cake.)
3. scoop miniature scoops of ice cream on top of peanut butter layer. by the time you are done doing this, the ice cream scoops will be soft enough to spread neatly into a smooth layer.
4. store in freezer until ready to serve.
5. before serving, drizzle with chocolate sauce and sprinkle with butterfinger bits.
make it how you love it. whether that means extra ice cream or extra thick brownies or extra butterfinger bits in the middle somewhere.. the possibilities are endless. enjoy.
categories:, | 9 comments
August 24, 2009

king of the annuals

| Edit Post
today we moved home.
you can see my little housewarming gift from grant on the left there. as we drove into town we stopped at the corner to pick up these pretty peachies from a white van with a sticker on the back door that said 'the future is organic.' the friendly old farmer could barely make it out of his lawn chair before announcing to us that the gladiolus was 'the king of the annuals! yes indeed, the king of the annuals!' grant and i thought him very charming. he informed us that the kingly beauties were 75 cents a stem. my cheeks almost went numb from the smiling that ensued. i love cheap thrills that make you feel high-class.
i left with 3 stems of sweet eye candy and 6 ears of sweet corn and a very happy heart.
moving status: we are completely done ferrying things from camp to our apartment in town. woohoo! it only took two trips in our little mazda to get the job done. once we got home we just dropped everything in big stacks and in one massive heap on the living room floor. as the day went on, we made progress with project:unpacking. i am encouraged. as of now, the living room is entirely tidy. the bedroom is halfway in order, with piles of clothes and camp gear curbed to one side. the bathroom is a hurricane of totes and target sacks and hair products. the groceries are bought and stored away. the laundry has somehow filled its bin again. the majority of stuff has been liberated from the heap and has at least moved to its general area of belonging. and there are flowers. fresh flowers in the house always cover over all sorts of wrongs. now tomorrow i start project:put away. it's always nice to try to put things away more neatly than they were before. wish me luck.
categories:, | 3 comments
August 21, 2009

on lake shetek

| Edit Post
as i mentioned yesterday, grant and i are lingering at camp for a few days. we decided to postpone the move home & the huge grocery shopping trip & assuming regular responsibilities for just a short while yet. we are reveling in the down time and finally beginning to grasp the fact that we have no schedule to keep.
we bought a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, and a couple lunchables (my childhood favorite) and are living the good life here at the almost-deserted camp. we eat when we are hungry, nap when we are sleepy, and do as we please. we've no obligations, other than to be with each other as much as we possibly can. and we've no plans, other than to rent a movie for 50 cents at the little grocery store in town. i am feeling like this is legit vacationing. grant is pondering new projects and researching gadgets and washing + waxing the car. i am poring over my books, doing a little piano playing and taking walks on the gravel roads. am really hoping the weather warms up so that i can have another swim in the lake soon. although, this rainy and cool weather we've had does make a perfect backdrop for curling up with a good book. and it always puts me in the mood to watch anne of green gables. wish i owned that one.
the stretch between the end of camp and the beginning of school truly is one of our most wonderful times of the year. it is an amazing thing, and such a privilege, to be jobless and fancy free for a week, with your husband, at a camp, on a lake. it's like our very own on golden pond setting.. except that we have pelicans and canadian geese instead of loons. (i love henry fonda & katherine hepburn, don't you?) but seriously, this is surreal. who in the world gets to do this? me, apparently. it's too good to be true.
i'm sure now you can see why i've not been here writing this blog lately, right? there's simply been no time. no time at all.
categories: | 9 comments
August 20, 2009

needless to say

| Edit Post
we have some catching up to do. has it really been this long? really?
yes, really. i have skipped out on almost a whole month of the blog. my friends are telling me that they are tired of checking in and seeing imogen's picture. okay, okay. you're right, guys. thanks for still stopping by after a month of inactivity and for caring enough to tell me to get with it. or to at least change the picture. i love you.
the world (meaning my life) has changed quite a bit since i last wrote, and i almost don't even know where to begin with the catching up. i would try to do it little by little, but would surely feel overwhelmed. it would simply be impossible to tell you everything. so, i will settle for a hasty recap and then move on to blogging about things of the present. here we go.
camp is over. the summer was a huge success. we had a fantastic staff, no major injuries or illnesses, and record numbers of campers. lives were changed and hearts were won and relationships improved and priorities were set straight and the blessings were innumerable. God is so good. His work is beyond anything i could ever ask or imagine. camp always makes me realize that fact over & over again. i love that. and at the end everybody went home & back to the real world.. except for us. grant and i are lingering a little while at our summer home, enjoying life by the lake.
last week we roadtripped to omaha to visit my family + friends. we celebrated grant's 26th birthday and i made him a butterfinger brownie cake that i will share more details about later. i found a stellar shirt at a thrift store that i can't wait to wear. grant calls it my 'farmgirl' shirt. oh, i finally saw the new harry potter movie and really liked it. and i also saw the new g.i. joe movie and totally hated it. oh, one more thing. a brand new possibility has popped up on the fall horizon for me, so grant and i have some deciding to do. will keep you posted on what's in store for me this year. no matter what, it's going to be good.
ps. i'm officially back. for good.
categories:, | 13 comments
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

hello

hello

about this blog

Hello, I'm Summer. A people-loving introvert whose hope and life is in Jesus. His promises are my passion and my ministry is homelife. This blog is a place for me to write about everyday things. Especially food. My favorite thing to do is sit around a table, lingering over a long meal with good conversation. I live with my husband and our 2 littles. We like blizzards, thrifting, grammar, guacamole, cheerful hearts, nice manners, good movies, and making simple, real, nutrient-dense food.

"If Christ be anything, He must be everything."
-C.H. Spurgeon

photo ai-4.png photo af-6.png photo at-4.png photo ap-6.png photo ama.png

old posts