How do weekends go by so fast? I don’t fully understand it.  I hope some of you out there are enjoying an extra day off. Technically, I should be too since Peter is off work. Sadly, though, he is having to work on his car at his brother’s the entire day. I could use his help around here today. I need some rest after the busy weekend we had. I shared my fun from Friday & Saturday already and the actual 4th was loaded as well.

Sunday morning we woke up and had a red, white, and blue breakfast. It consisted of homemade blueberry pancakes and a strawberry smoothie.

The pancakes are a really basic recipe that we adapted from www.allrecipes.com and always use for our once in a blue moon pancake mornings.

Ingredients

• 1.5 C flour (all-purpose or mix of all-purpose & wheat)
• 3.5 tsp baking powder
• 2T sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 C milk (I like using vanilla almond milk)
• 1 egg
• 3T melted butter
• 4 large handfuls fresh blueberries

Mix the dry ingredients first (flour through salt) and create a well in the center. Pour the wet ingredients (milk, egg, butter) into the well and blend until batter is smooth. Fold in blueberries. Cook on a griddle or pan like any other pancakes. 😀

After breakfast, we headed to church for an excellent service. It was all about the freedoms we have, not only within the country we live but also in our faith. Our pastor discussed how we need to really consider what we are free from and be grateful because none of that freedom came free. All of it came from huge sacrifices. From the many men and women who have fought for the freedom of our country across centuries, but also for the one man who sacrificed himself for each of us to be truly free and the countless others who across time made sacrifices to keep his word and truth flowing to others. The message brought people to their feet at the end and there were many sniffles heard among my fellow church friends.

Later that afternoon we headed to my parents’ place for some July 4th fun. The plan was to hang out for awhile and then gather up a picnic dinner to eat and games to play while waiting for Atlanta’s Lenox Fireworks show. There was a little bit of a glitch in that plan thanks to a “moment” between my father and I. Our relationship has had its fair share of strain and typically we can handle each other for the times we do see each other. Yesterday he was somehow set off and I had to face that look of pure hatred in his eyes and the anger that can come from his lips again. The evening evolved into a much rougher time than I expected and I fought the darkness I could quickly sink into from him the remainder of the night.

However, we persevered and gathered our forces to delight in our time together. My brother would leave in the morning to return to his home in Arizona, so we packed the cars and ate our picnic dinner or Publix chicken with potato chips & salad. We donned our happy faces to laugh and be goofy.

We played some Apples to Apples and adored the darling Makenzie.

And we also dove headfirst into a fabulous dessert – S’mores Brownies. Somehow Jess always gets it right. Always.

Then I viewed the fireworks through Makenzie’s eyes yet again. Believed in the magic of fireworks, instead of the realities of pain that can still infiltrate even after you thought them to be resolved. Now, it is today. A new day. A day where I can sweat out some tension in a spin class; spend time laughing with my daughter; and with any luck have a husband who comes home at a reasonable enough time to give me a break. I have a feeling there will be some prayer in my future on finding a way to let it all go and find a way to forgive (even with no apology present)…again.

I wish you all the best of days! Now, tell me…how was your weekend?

How was everyone’s weekend? Ours was spent with some great friends. It was a fabulous time and just reminded me the signs of a true friendship. It also reminded me why the first trimester is typically the least enjoyable part of pregnancy, but I’ll reserve the glory of all those details for a future post…coming to your screens sometime this week. I would much rather recap the fun side of the weekend on a Sunday night.

We have to rewind back to Friday night. After Peter got home from work, we headed out to meet some of our best friends for dinner. This was the first time we’ve been able to go to dinner all together since the birth of their beautiful daughter 2 months ago. (Happy 2 month birthday C!) Things have been a bit of a rough start for them since C was born 6 weeks early, so now that things are a bit more stable they were excited to get out for awhile. I know the feeling! I was glad we got to be a part of it.

We went to the restaurant Olde Towne Tavern in a local area with shops, parks, grassy areas for play, water fountains, etc.

We spent about two hours there talking, catching up, and enjoying the good food. Makenzie made new friends with a little boy at the next table over and C slept like an angel. It was a good dinner. And the food definitely helped it out. I ordered a baked crab cake sandwich with sweet potato fries and had a garlic roll from the table’s basket. It was as good as it sounds.

Once we overstayed our welcome at the restaurant, we headed out into the night to go feed baby C and let Makenzie blow off some energy. She wanted in on a game of frisbee, but had to settle for being cute dancing around the grass.

The night didn’t end there. We had to top off the night by trying out some Rita’s frozen custard. I got the twist (chocolate & vanilla) with caramel sauce. Heaven.

It was really rich though. I couldn’t even finish it. But all in the name of intuitive eating. No reason to overstuff myself too much. It was time to say goodbye after that. I already can’t wait to spend time with them again.

Saturday night was spent in a similar fashion by hanging out with more of our close friends. We headed over to their house in the afternoon for the men to take the kiddos to the park while us ladies went to Costco to pick up some food for our trip to the cabin Memorial Day weekend.

We also picked up a pizza and some salad from Buckhead Pizza on our way back to the house. I had a small serving of salad and 1.5 of the super large slices. The pizza had spinach, mushrooms, onions, olives, pepperoni, and sausage on a whole wheat crust. It was goooood. Especially since carby, salty things sound amazing right now.

We had an enjoyable night in with great pizza, watching our girls play together, and then playing Taboo after they went to bed. Another perfect evening and we get to have more like it next weekend when we go out of town with them.

This entire weekend verified to me the thoughts I was having last weekend about friendships. As we get older and move into new phases in our lives it is normal for the friendships we used to count as our closest to change. My friend who is getting married is one of my oldest friends and I can't imagine not having her friendship. But I can’t deny that other friendships in my life fulfill me in ways hers can’t. Many of who I would consider my closest friends right now are friends I have much more in common with. Friends I go to church with, who also have children, or who share similar passions as me. I look forward to talking to and seeing these people on a regular basis. When I don’t see them for over a week I actively miss them. I can reach out to them, asking for prayers and knowing that they hurt for me the same way I ache for them when they are facing troubles. I feel so blessed for the numerous friendships I have already and the ones I know are going to grow by leaps and bounds (<---Emily!) I don’t plan on losing my old friendship, but I know I must accept the fact it is changing as we revolve in different circles and travel down different paths.

I have learned one important lesson through the many changing friendships I have had in life. The ones who count are the ones who stick with you for the long haul, through the easy and the hard. In that way, no one can compare to my friend “N”. I love her and will work hard to keep our friendship running deep like my others. You can never have too many true friendships, right? I sure hope not. I love being surrounded with friends…old and new.

• What was the best part of your weekend?
• Favorite pizza toppings?
• What do you think is the most important factor in a solid friendship?