Tender Mercies

Happy Halloween! What did you guys do to celebrate? Among our festivities of the day, we stopped by the meat shop and picked up our half cow that we ordered back in February from  M & J Ranch  .  Fitting that their initials are our initials...I guess it was meant to be.  We loved the ranch from the moment we met Joyce and her husband at their gorgeous ranch home just outside of Lawrence. They are so family-oriented, have good values, and love what they do. Marshall and I like to eat food from people who grow/raise their food with love and pride because it tastes better and makes our bodies feel better and more energetic. We're also so excited to have 100% grass fed beef in our freezer that was purchased at an excellent price of $4.95/lb after including the sales tax and processing fees. There is no way you'd be able to buy 100% grass fed beef steaks, briskets, or let alone ground beef for that price.  We really didn't know what we were getting ourselves int

Kansas Bucket List 2015-2019 When we moved to Alaska in 2011, we heard so many people tell us what we had to do/see before we left the state. So we made a simple chart of 10 items we wanted to do. Some of them were extravagant (like taking a cruise to Hawaii) while others were pretty doable like see a glacier. The funny thing is that we did end up going to Hawaii while in Alaska, albeit on a plane. See? Writing down your hopes and dreams does  help!  When we moved to Kansas, we didn't really have many people telling us of the great and wonderful things we needed to do/see while living here. However, we know there has got to be some great sights and heartland stuff to see...so here is our attempt in making Kansas more interesting than Alaska. I don't know if we will succeed, but at least we can leave here knowing we saw lots of cool "Kansas things." No regrets people.  Many of these ideas came from  Kansastravel.org , a great site that has attraction

Guys, I found a dress! Last week I talked about not having a dress for the formal because I had grown out of the one I was planning on wearing...but the next day I went on a 3 hour shopping trip and found one that worked and was comfortable. It was a pretty awesome deal.  This was my 4th military ball I have been to, and it was my most favorite one to date. The event was held at Abe & Jake's Landing   in Lawrence, a beautiful venue for a formal event. The food was decent, but most of all, the keynote speaker was actually interesting and engaging . He was a retired Navy Captain, and had all of the students and staff laughing, cheering, and participating in his speech. We all left with a renewed sense of camaraderie, morale, and pride for our Country.  I met Marshall's classmates and really enjoyed the evening with them. They were all excited to meet "Adams's wife," and they said I lived up to their expectations. phew! :) It was the mos

For the past month, I have been thinking about how to cultivate self-love. I think it is an important topic that many can relate to. Throughout this post I am going to highlight some tips that have worked for me to cultivate my personal self-love.  Back in September, my husband and I went to the Kansas City Temple for a date night and I asked Marshall to take some pictures for me. I didn't know that would mean a whole bunch of candid shots :-). I suppose I don't mind much, since they do a pretty nice job of capturing the mood I was in. I hope you enjoy the pictures and tips. 1. Name your inner "mean" voice. It's that voice that tells you you're ugly, fat, not good enough, (fill in the blank), even when they are obvious lies. This voice gets much of its motivation from negative media. I named mine Bertha . Isn't that an awesome name? The fun part about naming the mean voice is that it often makes you laugh when you say it because it i

Last summer I tried my hand at making soft cheese, like ch é vre, mozzarella, and cottage cheese, from the goat milk we bought from our friend while living in Alaska. I loved how easy the ch é vre was to make because it required no cooking, and it soon became my favorite thing to make with our extra milk.  This fall I was a little braver and tried my hand at making raw cheddar cheese, something I have wanted to do for over a year. Now that I have a press, I was able to have a go at it.  In my experience, making raw cheeses takes patience as you heat the milk on the stove SLOWLY so that it doesn't get above 102° F in order for the beneficial enzymes to stay intact. For this reason, I had set aside a full day so that I had no distractions as I turned 2 gallons worth of milk into cheese.  After the time on the stove, I pressed the curds in the cheese press for the allotted amount of time and then I eventually waxed it. Then I let it age at room temperature in our cupb

Oh fall. A season where we are reminded of the reality of change in our lives. Change is hard. But it is also beautiful, just as this oak tree in my front yard.  A couple of years ago I was given a dress from a friend.  Back then it slid right off of me, but I put it in my closet to wear in a future time when I was "pregnant and bigger." As a military wife, I have opportunities to dress up for various balls, so it's always nice to have something in the closet. Last semester I was told that there would be an ROTC ball this fall, so when I tried on the said dress in May, it fit perfectly. I was so happy that I had something already to wear for next week's ball. Last night I tried on the dress, one week before the event. It was a good 2 inches too small! I couldn't believe it. I finally thought my weight had stabilized, but I continue to increase, especially over this past month. I don't know why.  I suppose that 8 years of restricting calories a

Happy Columbus Day everyone! Or should I say, Happy Indigenous People's Day, as the Mayor of Lawrence has chosen in lieu of Columbus? Either way, I say it's a pretty fun day because Marshall had the day off from school.  Having Marshall home made it feel like summertime, especially because it was close to 80 degrees F today. I still can't believe how hot it has been this week. This is my first real Autumn in 3 years, so I am taking in all I can of the cool mornings and evenings and warm afternoon sun, all while enjoying the gorgeous changing colors of the trees.  Marshall picked out our pumpkins for us.  I approved. So many of my friends have been posting pumpkin patch photos this past week, and I thought it was a good reason for Marshall and me to go! We only had 30 minutes before I had to leave to go to the yoga studio, so we took a few fun pictures and picked out some really fun pumpkins.  Schaake's Pumpkin Patch  worked out quite well for us t