Every once in a while I like to share a little mid-week inspiration here on the blog. I find it so helpful to take a step back and look at the things that have been inspiring my days lately. These are a few of the things I’ve been enjoying – I highly recommend checking them all out!
The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook. This is the first cookbook I’ve ever read cover-to-cover. My dear friend Paige gifted it to me for my birthday back in May, and I spend the last few weeks moseying through each page, devouring each of Deb’s stories and recipes. Most nights I’d sit in bed and read through a few recipes until I got so hungry I either had to get up and grab a snack or make myself go to sleep.
Two of the weddings we’ve photographed this summer even used The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook as their guestbooks – an idea that I’m obsessed with now. “Sprinkle a little love throughout our guest book and we’ll add it to our next meal!” Adorable right?
Although I feel that this cookbook is filled with more wintery comfort-food recipes than summer ones, we’ve enjoyed making several of Deb’s recipes. So far my favorites have included her corn risotto-stuffed poblano peppers, baked ranchero eggs, and big cluster maple granola. So good.
Courtney and Ryan Thomas’s Story. These dear friends of ours have been on quite the whirlwind journey of letting go of their own plans in exchange for the Lord’s. Their story of adoption is truly beautiful – you can read it in their own words over at their blog. They adopted their daughter Nara just over a year ago and recently have felt called to return to her home country of Ethiopia and serve as full-time missionaries there. They’re currently on a three week “trial-run” trip to work with the ministries they’d be serving in and see how Nara does being back in Ethiopia.
I love these sweet words they wrote on their blog several months ago, “We know that God is already working on sweet Nara’s heart and preparing her for what is to come. We have prayed big things over her from the start and Courtney has said from the beginning that she wants Nara to be a little Esther. We even considered Esther as a middle name for Nara. Esther, like Nara, was adopted. I’m sure her life was hard and considering her circumstances she probably felt as if there was no purpose or calling on her life. However, it turns out, as a result of the events that God sovereignly orchestrated in Esther’s life, she had the chance to save her people. We want the same for Nara. Before we even brought Nara home we both decided that we did not want to “Americanize” Nara, but to prepare her to one day go back and help the people of Ethiopia. We just didn’t realize it would be this soon!”
We’ve been filming bits of Courtney, Ryan, and Nara’s story throughout the past couple years, not knowing what the final film would look like. We now have the opportunity to tell their story in an even more professional way through a film contest that The Music Bed is putting on. We would LOVE your votes to help us tell their story more fully through free music licenses, gear rentals, and sound equipment! If Courtney and Ryan discern that full-time ministry is what they’re being called to, we’d love to share their story in a way that would help them raise support in the future.
Female Entrepreneur Association. I’ve been recommending this site to all my friends who are starting up their own businesses. Their mission is to inspire and empower entrepreneurial women around the world. First of all, Carrie has the most fabulous accent, so she’s fun to listen to. She posts inspiration each week – anything from how to set goals and create a successful business manifesto, to overcoming your fears, to creating social media strategies. If you sign up for her newsletter, she’ll send the blog posts right to your inbox – I’ve found that super helpful for my scatterbrained self.
Pinterest. On what days does Pinterest not inspire me? If you don’t enjoy using Pinterest, I’ll either accuse you of not being a “visual” person or try to convince you that you’re not following the right people. They’ve smartened up their site in the last several months so that finding people who pin things you’d find interesting or inspiring is much much simpler!
When you click on a pin, try scrolling down below it. Have you discovered the “Also on these boards” and “Related pins” sections? If not, then you’re missing out! I also like to click on one of the “Pins from..” profiles at the top of my own home page. From there I explore who those people “Pin from” – that’s a great way to find new favorites! Take some time to explore and find new boards or people that inspire you. This board is my personal favorite this week. I just love all the colors and textures – reminds me of summer!
Speaking of summer. How about a perfect summertime recipe? The tomatoes in our garden are producing like crazy right now, so it’s the perfect excuse to make loads of pico de gallo, bruschetta, or caprese salad.
This recipe is really just a guideline (you know how I roll). You can add more or less of any ingredient to suit your preferences, and you’re welcome to leave out the jalapeño entirely if you don’t like spicy salsa.
Pico de Gallo
Ingredients
- 3 medium tomatoes
- 1/4 or a red onion
- 1 jalapeño diced (seeds removed for mild or with some seeds to add heat)
- Handful of cilantro leaves finely chopped
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1/8 tsp kosher salt
- Dash of pepper
- Dash of garlic powder
Instructions
- Toss all ingredients in a bowl.
- Let rest in the fridge or at room temperature for at least 15 minutes (more if you can stand to wait) to let the flavors get happy.
- Enjoy with chips, on tacos or quesadillas, over eggs, or straight out of the bowl.