Friday Faves- Edition 13

 

Friday.

Edition 13.

Friday seems to come around faster than I can blink my eyes!

Between editing some photos, running errands, spring purging of household stuff, and life in general… I somehow ended up at Friday (and with my house showing the chaos of my not tending to it!).

Recipes.

One of my frantic errands this week was procuring ingredients for cinnamon golfeados. My middle son is in his third year of Spanish and chose this as the recipe he would bring in. You can find the recipe he chose here.

I do like making treats, but not ones that require letting the dough rise and rolling it out. To say I was nervous about its chance of success was an understatement.

But they turned out.

The main reason it’s one of my faves this week isn’t that they tasted wonderful. (we didn’t know star anise smelled like black licorice and would have reduced the amount called for if we knew that it, not the cinnamon, would be the main flavor).

No, it’s because my son carried out all of the steps to create this recipe. INCLUDING, rolling out the dough.

I was only there to oversee.

We bonded as we laughed and wondered how a cinnamon roll with cheese in it might turn out.

It was moments spent in the present, creating memories.

Charcoal Grill

And since we are on the topic of food….here’s another of my faves this week.

Our gas grill finally died.

And, of course, I needed some things grilled.

The hubby picked up this handy, dandy Weber charcoal grill.

Detox.

Prior to vacation, I decided that on May 1st I would do what I am calling a 10-day detox (aka real food, minus cheese and alcohol).

I’ve said before that I don’t like diets.

I really worry about the message they send to my children and I want them to have a healthy relationship with food.

However, I did think that in Europe I would likely eat more than normal because I wanted to try new things.

I ate more than one of these croissants at our Paris hotel’s breakfast buffet each day, plus tons of other tasty treats that I don’t normally eat.

And let me tell you, they were all worth it!

I did not gain weight (probably due to tons of walking), but still decided to do a reset.

Hence the need for a grill.

Rain.

We’ve had a ton of rain! Last night was a huge downpour. The creek by my house only has water for a couple days after a rainstorm. It rushes quickly enough, in the beginning, to pose a real danger if you step into it. You may recognize it as the location where I practiced my skills on long exposure photography. You can check out one of the photos that I shared in this post. I took this photo to share another fave.

My bracelet.

It’s a hammered metal bangle. It’s a piece of costume jewelry that I found at Anitya, located at 45 rue d’Hauteville in Paris. I wanted to take home a little piece of jewelry to remember this day. The boys wanted to pick out a piece of jewelry for their girlfriends. The middle son has had this girlfriend for some time. We went to a few stores, but it was at Anitya where he chose a necklace and ring for her.

The part of this journey that makes my heart smile is that he was so thoughtful about his purchase.

He also asked my opinion.

Which if you are raising teens or have raised teens, then you know that doesn’t happen often.

When I look at this bracelet, I remember that he truly is caring and sweet.

Even if sometimes he makes me forget that. 😉

Soccer.

If you’ve seen my Instagram, then you already know that this is a photo that I took of the girlie’s middle school soccer team. It was for the coach’s gift.

Last night they held their banquet. To say that these girls have had an amazing season would be an understatement. They completed the season undefeated. They are the district champions. Due to the rain, they were only able to have a 10 game season. Yet, in a 10 game season, they scored 40 goals, 1 shy from setting the school record of 41.

So had they played the other four games…

One of the forwards scored 28 goals, shattering the school record of 13 (which, if I heard correctly, was also her record tied with someone else.) And don’t quote me, but the center-back had 4 goals and 5 assists (this could be reversed), which if you know soccer (and I barely do) is not typical. We play our home games on a turf football field and watching her score a goal from the 55-yard line was impressive!

But it took every single girl to make this season possible.

A fact that did not go unnoticed.

Not only did the entire team come together on the field, but off the field, they rallied around some personal situations.

The coach called each girl forward and offered such kind words about who they were as a player. I admit that I was misty-eyed as he spoke words of encouragement to my daughter.

This year my girlie played a left back. She also played defense for travel this year. But it was an adjustment for her. She had played left forward the years, leading up to this. She was hoping for mid-field, but you play what the team needs and so she did. But she worked through the learning curve of moving from an 8 v 8 game to 11 v 11, and from moving to a defensive position.

He spoke about how she played the position that the team needed. As a left foot in soccer, she’s kinda rare. The team was lucky enough to have two left foot players and she was strong enough to play a defender. But where he really made me teary was when he went on to say that she is unselfish on the field. It made my heart swell because that is just who she is. I was so happy for her that in her final game, she came in as a center-mid and kicked a beautiful cross to the other player, which resulted in a goal.

The 8th-grade parents also came up and said kind words about the team and spoke with love about their children.  I’m not sure there was a dry eye by the end.

It’s again in moments like these that I am at peace with this season of living so far from my family.

Because in moments like these, community IS family.

And since I’m tearing up still thinking about it, I’ll share my next fave.

View this post on Instagram

Spring has sprung around the @uofglasgow. Great capture @out_for_a_walk_! #Glasgow #UofG #UniversityofGlasgow #GlasgowUni #Scotland #tulips #spring #VisitScotland #LoveScotland #ScotSpirit

A post shared by VisitScotland (@visitscotland) on May 1, 2017 at 5:00am PDT

Scotland.

Plane tickets and hotel rooms have been booked! My mom, my aunt, and I will be heading to Scotland this month!

In the end, the Highlands just wasn’t an option because I’m not ready to leave my kids for that long. It was hard to give up as we wanted to see the Isle of Skye and I would love to see Highland Coos and sweeping vistas. My mother and I both had a strong pull to visit the Standing Stones of Callanish, but the Outer Hebrides are much too far. She doesn’t know if she will ever have a chance to return. I am convinced we will return for the Highlands.

We are splitting our time between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Our traced ancestral history is mostly in the areas surrounding Glasgow. Along with sights there and in Edinburgh, we also plan to see Stirling and Doune castle. I am studying public transportation as I will NOT be driving on the opposite side of the road. 🙂

Music.

So lastly, I close with a song I love although I don’t have a real reason. I’ve mentioned in the past that I love the sound of Gaelic and envisioned that I would have Percy Jackson-like abilities and miraculously be able to understand it.  Alas, I cannot. This version, however, shows the translated lyrics as well:

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend filled with blue skies and joy in your heart.

Let your light shine!

Amy