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The Good Life

It's Monday morning.  Jon has left for work and I've already been up to feed Lydia.  She is now laying next to me in bed, sleeping again.  Everyone else in the house is asleep.  A storm is rolling in and while the thunder crashes and the rain begins to fall in heavy swollen drops, I lay here and just listen to nature speak.  Josh is here this week and we have a full week of therapies, library hours, pool time, and chores ahead of us.  For now though, I will lie here quietly and let naive sing its summer storm song to me.  Life is too short to miss these moments and I'm so blessed to be able to enjoy them.  Staying home is not the easy choice for me.  Money is extraordinarily tight and to be honest, being a stay at home mom is both harder and more amazing than I thought it would be.  For every moment like this, there is an offsetting moment where josh is having a teenager moment, Linus is begging for attention, Lydia needs fed, and I have to get dinner ready and the living room cleaned.  I wouldn't change it though.  For all the hardships we are facing, I have my family by my side to overcome them. And that is what I call the good life. 

Summer Playlist

Summer music always seems to bring out my nastolgic side in full force.  Probably because there is always a summer anthem released and played all summer long so that you have no choice but to associate that song with summer memories.  But anywho, these are my summer jams for 2016, though most of them are pretty old.  

Haruyo Koi - Happy End

Summertime Sadness. - Lana Del Rey

8 Bit Baby

Hot In Herre - Nelly

Break Your Heart - Mandy Moore

Summertime - Janis Joplin

California Gurls - Katy Perry

Bette Davis Eyes - Kim Carnes

I Get Around - The Beach Boys

Cruel Summer - Bananarama

Under the Boardwalk  - The Drifters

Fancy - Iggy Azalea

The Weekenders

This weekend was gorgeous and as we don't get a lot of non humid and hell on earth hot days in July, we spent a lot of the weekend outside.  We had a cookout, went on a picnic, played hide and seek in the dark, and chased lightening bugs.  It was just a really great low key weekend.  Hope yours was grand as well.  

Blackberry Crisp

3 cups blackberries

3 tbsp cornstarch

1/2 cup sugar

Mix and put into an 8x8 baking dish.

1 cup oats

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup flour

2/3 cup melted butter

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

Mix and spread evenly over berries.  Tops with 1 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp cinnamon mixed.  Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, or until topping is golden brown.

Blackberry Pie Filling

It's blackberry season and I'm taking full advantage of being home to try my hand at baking some things I've always wanted to try.  I made some blackberry pie filling, and then the pie.  It was so good, even if not the prettiest pie ever lol.  

Pie filling:
3 cups blackerries
1 cup sugar
juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp vanilla

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour.

Blackberry Simple Syrup

I love flavored iced teas and lemonades.   Maybe too much...  I started the search for a good berry syrup recipe so that I could make my own flavored iced tea at home and save some money.  This syrup hit the spot.  It's sweet, smooth, and easy to make.

3 cups blackberries

1 cup sugar

Place in saucepan on medium for 20-30 minutes, or until blackberries are soft.  Strain through cheesecloth or a fine mesh metal strainer.  Discard berries and keep the syrup. Serve with iced tea or lemonade.  

FYI, you can keep the berries to use for smoothies or pie filling!

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