Perkins Family

How gorgeous is this family?!  You will DIE when you see the rest on my photo blog.

Pesto and Mozzarella Paninis

Sometimes it's hard to me to find the motivation to make a big hot meal in the summer.  I'm always looking for good sandwich and salad recipes, so I thought I would share this one here.

I mentioned pesto and paninis in my last post and I figured, why not combine them?!  I used this recipe for pesto made with basil grown on my balcony.

Here's what you'll need to make these amazing paninis:

French or Sourdough Bread

Butter for the Outside of the Bread

Pesto

Mozzarella Cheese

Tomatoes or Roasted Red Peppers

*Roasted Red Peppers are super easy to make: put chopped red peppers on baking sheet with olive oil, salt, and pepper--then broil.*

I made mine with tomatoes.  I think this is best because the juice from the tomatoes just makes everything taste better. ;)

Because Matt isn't the biggest fan of fresh tomatoes, we made his with roasted red peppers.  I didn't taste it, but he loved it!

Seriously so good!

Green Thumbs??

So Matt and I have never really grown anything before, but this year we decided it would be really fun to grow a couple things on our deck.  Who knew we had such a knack for gardening!? ;) 

We each got a pot and I decided to grow basil in mine... yum!

 Can you say pesto, paninis, pastas??

Matt wanted to grow cayenne peppers in his pot.

They aren't red yet, but one of them is pretty big.  :)

I think what we grew in our pots says a lot about us--especially Matt.  I love that he chose cayenne peppers because he is always trying to sneak cayenne into my spaghetti sauce.

Things to Remember

 

My sweet, sweet Grandma passed away last week.  We will miss her so much, but we are so glad she is with her sweetheart now, my grandpa.  There have been so many fun memories running through my mind that I never want to forget so I want to document some of them here.

• Sometimes when my parents would go out and leave me home alone I would call my grandparents if I got scared.  They would always gladly come pick me up.  We would have ice cream and they would let me sleep over.
• Grandma used to stack pots, pans, and various boxes in front of the front door when we slept over.  We always teased her about this.  :)  She just wanted to be able to hear if someone came in so she could protect us.
• Even our dog (black lab named Dude--ya we are THAT cool) knew how awesome it was to go to grandma and grandpa's house.  He would literally swim across the river, run through the valley, and cross the highway (scary!) just to get to their house and grandpa would give him a treat.
• Grandpa loved all animals.  I remember he used to whistle to the birds and they would whistle back.
• Every time I slept over I would bring a stuffed lamb that Grandpa loved.  He would always rub it against his whiskers and then tell me how soft it was and then rub it against my cheek to show me.
• Grandma used to let me sit next to her on the piano bench while she played and I would sing.
• When my mom was working on getting her EMT license I had lots of babysitters, but grandma was always my favorite.  I would always ask if Grandma could babysit me and cry if she couldn't.  (This could be partly because the other lady made me eat spinach and mush for lunch...)  Grandma would always do puzzles with me and let me help her cook.
• Every time I slept over Grandma and Grandpa would let me have ice cream before bed and then read me stories and lay in bed with me in the "pink room" until I fell asleep.
• They always encouraged me to develop my talents and came to lots of piano recitals.
• Grandma would ALWAYS want to feed you a meal if you stopped by.  She was the best at taking care of those she loved. 
• Every time I got sick, even if it was just a cold, Grandma and Grandpa would come visit and bring me juice.
• Grandma introduced me to peanut butter and pickle sandwiches... yum!
• I loved going to Dairy Queen with them for ice cream.  Grandpa and I would always get mint dilly bars.  It was our favorite.
• When Matt and I lived with Grandma she was starting to lose her mind a little bit.  She really wanted to put daffodils on my mom's birthday cake.  We tried to convince her that the cake didn't really need flowers.  The next morning there were daffodils in the kitchen (she couldn't drive).  When we asked her where she got the flowers she told us she waited until it was dark and then stole them from the neighbors yard.  We laughed and laughed about this with her.  It was hilarious that she knew it was wrong enough to wait until dark, but did it anyway. :)  Love her laugh.

I'm so grateful for the knowledge of eternal families.  It's so nice to know that she and Grandpa and my brother Paul are all there together with many other friends and family members.

I Would Die for That

I have to preface this video with the statement, that I'm not a fan of most country songs.  Even this one has a little too much twang for my liking, but it was too good not to share.  I'm so grateful for the divine nature we have been blessed with as women to long for motherhood.  

This is for all my sweet friends who die a little inside every month when they still aren't pregnant, and for those who have come out on the other side.  I love how this video portrays the heartache, while still conveying hope.  Grab some tissues!