A Long Journey. Done.

August 12th was an amazing day. I spent the morning at PSU in my last class. Yup. Last. Class.

I received this:


in April, just after I completed my student teaching. While my cohort members were taking the final required class for a Master's Degree in April/May/June, I was making up for some lost time with Bryce. I really needed a few months off to truly enjoy just being a mom. Not a student. Mom. Now, I'm done. It's hard to believe I started school when I was 4 months pregnant and now I have a 22 month old running around.

I don't have my diploma yet, or I'd include pictures of that, too :) Apparently those take a few months to print out. But, it is offical. I have a Master's of Education. I'm just so happy that I made it through the program, despite all times I wanted to quit. Man, quitting looked really good during those late night feedings...

What's For Dinner?

There is some of this yummy goodness in the oven as we speak. This is currently my favorite recipe, since the veggies are in season (they might just be in your garden, too). Mom, this is the one I was telling you about... All you quinoa-haters should give this a try :)

Zucchini with Quinoa Stuffing

What you need:
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed
2-4 zucchini (depends on the size of em)
1 can cannellini beans (we like white beans better)
1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup almonds, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 cup grated parmesan (gotta be fresh!)
4 tablespoons olive oil

What you do:

• Heat oven to 400 degrees. In a large saucepan, combine the quinoa and 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender and the water is absorbed, 12 to 15 minutes. (Hint: Soak the quinoa for about 10 minutes prior to cooking, then rinse. Soaking helps it to cook evenly, and loosens up the outer coating of saponin, which can give a bitter taste if not removed.)
• Meanwhile, cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Arrange in a large baking dish, cut-side up.
• Fluff the quinoa and fold in the beans, tomatoes, almonds, garlic, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, and 3 tablespoons of the oil.
• Spoon the mixture into the zucchini. Top with the remaining tablespoon of oil and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Cover with foil and bake until the zucchini is tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until golden, 8 to 10 minutes.

Simple, right? Let me know if you try it!

Bryce's Ark?

Bryce loves to play with animals. I think at some point we'll have a farm/zoo in our house, but right now we just have a few horses, an elephant, and giraffe. Brian was having fun with the camera the other day and just snapped a few black and whites. They're pretty cute, so I thought I'd share :)

Fun with Daddy

As I mentioned in my last post, Brian is a fabulous dad who loves to take Bryce out Daddy/son adventures (which gives me time to work on the house, do homework, or just relax). Here are some pictures from their last trip to the zoo and Children's Museum (two of our favorite places!)

Berry Picking

Bryce loves berries. Whenever we go over to nana's house he runs straight for the raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, whatever is ripe and ready to eat. Ok, a lot of the time he goes for the not-so-ripe fruits as well :)

Since he loves it so much, we've taken him berry picking a couple of times. I thought it was about time I add the super cute pictures to the blog. Notice the 4th of July t-shirt, that is his official berry picking tee. Nice and dark, so the juices don't show, also a bit on the small side :)



*I want to say a huge thank you to my wonderful husband, who takes Bryce on these adventures without me so I can get things done around the house, sleep in, do homework, or just have some alone time. It's super refreshing to be able to sleep in on the weekends! He took Bryce to the zoo this morning, I'll get some pics of that up soon...