Grandma's Plum Cake

I was talking to my mom the other day and I said, "Guess what I have in the oven?" After a couple of wrong guesses I added, "You haven't had it in years." With that hint she knew right away. Grandma's plum cake.

My grandmother (Olga, my dad's mom) made the best plum cake. It was one of those things that seemed to be devoured as soon as it was put out; it was that good. And I guess part of the appeal was that it wasn't ordinary. It wasn't something that you would expect, like cheesecake or cookies.

Of course plums aren't always in season, but my grandma managed to make enough cake to last what seemed like the entire year. She would always have extra plum cake in the freezer and when it defrosted it was as good as the day she made it.

Well, grandma passed away almost three years ago and since she was sick for quite some time before she went to be with the Lord she wasn't doing her usual things. Needless to say, my family hasn't had grandma's plum cake in almost five years.

About ten years ago I had the foresight to recognize that there were somethings that would die with my grandma and would be forever lost to our family. I'm not saying that I value the things grandma made, had, or did above her as a person, I just wanted to make sure that when she was no longer around, the things that reminded me most of her would still linger. So, I spent an afternoon with grandma and together we made plum cake. I wrote down each step we did, brought it home, and filed it away in my mom's cookbook. As the years passed by I forgot about that recipe. But when she passed away in 2005 that time I spent baking with her came rushing back to me and I frantically looked for the recipe. Obviously I found it! Today I have multiple copies, just in case.

I enjoyed making grandma's plum cake this past Wednesday. It turned out pretty good, but not exactly like grandma used to make. God willing I'll have as many years to perfect it as she did.

Another Day of Home Improvements

After having a successful day of "home work" yesterday I decided to continue today by painting our guest bathroom. I recently painted one of the walls in our bedroom as an accent wall so I decided to use the left over paint to paint the bathroom. The color is called Cincinnatian Hotel Taupe. It looks great!


I can't quite shake the paint smell from my nose yet but I guess I better get used to it because I plan on painting our master bathroom this week as well. We'll see! It may have to wait until after Neen and I get back from our trip to Disney World. More to come on that later.

Before

After

Handy (Wo)man

Today was my first official day of summer vacation and instead of sitting around and relaxing, I decided to get started on some projects that I want to do around the house this summer. I intended on painting the guest bathroom, but the ceiling fan we bought for our TV room was calling my name. We had already asked a friend to help us install it because neither Adam or I have done it before, but I decided to go for it myself. It took some time, but I did it and it looks great! I also installed one in our study/Adam's home office.

I know that installing a ceiling fan isn't rocket science, but I'm pretty proud of my accomplishment. I guess I'll start painting tomorrow!

Slip and Slide

For the past few weeks I have been telling Adam that I want to get a Slip and Slide for the back yard--man has it been HOT! Yes, I know that it is not really intended for adults, but come on! Slip and Slide rules!

I mentioned to my friend and co-worker, Angela, that I wanted to get one and, despite her making fun of me, she bought one for me! She left the box in the main office with a note on it that read, "Mrs. L., Have a slip sliding summer." Thanks, Angela!

Here are some photos of our friends, Megan & Brent, Adam, and me using the Slip and Slide last night in my back yard. Brent was the first to take a running leap and as you can see by the pictures, he got pretty adventurous with his technique! Adam was next to go. He looked like he was sliding in to home plate. Megan and I were a little hesitant at first. As excited as we were to join in on the fun, we suddenly realized that we are a lot higher off the ground than we were back in the day. But of course we did it anyway. Oh, man was the ground hard! We all suffered a few "battle scars" as we called them. Adam scraped his chest, Brent cut his knee, and Megan and I both hurt and bruised our right elbows. I also bruised my knee. We had so much fun despite beating ourselves up pretty badly. As my mom said to me today, "Hey, you're not eight anymore." Thanks, Mom.

And thanks to Megan for taking and sharing these photos!

Ready for a Break

Praise the Lord! Summer vacation is finally here! Yesterday was the last day of school for students and Friday is my last work day until August 19th. It has been a long school year and I am so excited about this break. My husband asked me yesterday what I was planning on doing with my time this summer and I came up with a few things that I have been wanting to do in our house such as paint, clean closets, etc. Then I added to my list saying that I wanted to start a blog, so here it is!

So I guess I should introduce myself to those of you who are just visiting and maybe those of you who do know me will learn something new.

My husband, Adam, and I got married in November of 2005 and we have been happily making our journey through life together since. People still call us newlyweds, but I remember a few years ago my sister-in-law saying that you are only considered newlyweds for two years or until the first baby, whichever comes first. Well, we don't have children but it's been over two and a half years since that wonderful November day, so I guess we're not really newlyweds anymore.

Time sure has flown by! When we got married Adam was only a few weeks from his college graduation, I was a waitress and hating it, and we were living in a cramped one bedroom apartment. Since then we've moved twice, bought our first house, and we are both working in successful careers--Adam is in sales and I am a high school teacher. The Lord sure has blessed us! Life is good.

Adam and I come from very different families--mine from the north, his from the south. It's funny to see generational differences in the way that the younger generation views the north/south divide vs. the way older generations see it. It is a non issue with my Adam and me. We joke of course, but we can--we know each other inside and out, what's joking and what is not. Besides, he turns more northern everyday!

Joking, joking...

There are more differences than north/ south when it comes to our families but that is part of what makes marriage interesting! Since my family is all in the north east and his live an hour away (seemingly a long drive for them) we mostly just live in our own little world, surrounding ourselves with local people we love! We have made some wonderful friends in this southern city we call home, and I'm sure I will be posting stories and pictures about them (as well as our families) in the future.

For now, just know that this is a place where you'll find what makes me laugh, cry and everything in between. Enjoy!