Life Right Now

4 May

Sorry I don’t have any pretty pictures or exciting updates.  Just wanted to let you know we are in full-blown painting, packing, cleaning mode at the Bangs houses at the moment.  We have already painted, our bedroom and the girls bedrooms.  We painted the living room, the kids room the kitchen and we have the basement to still paint.

We have gobs of our belongings in the parsonage garage but still have way too much more to pack up in our current house.  We will clean our lake house as well as the parsonage by the beginning of next week.  Ugh.

We are getting there though.  It is fun to see each room come to life with bold colors.  I am excited about curtains and about living in this awesome house.

I will have picture coming in the next few days but for now I will keep working and see you on the other side of this mess =)

Fresh Pasta

2 May

I have always thought that the process of making pasta must be reserved for very brave and skilled people who have all day to devote to following detailed recipes and intense preparation.

Just found out that this is not the case.

I actually made pasta when the kids were around, very present actually.  I gave the kids some dough to play with and kneed.  They kept wanting more and more flour and the floor was a bit white afterwards.  But we ended up with delicious noodles.  It was surprisingly easy and very fun.

Measure out 3/4 cup flour + 1 egg for each person

Now that you know how easy it is don’t you want to try?

Click here for step by step instructions

Now I want a noodle press since the hardest part of making these was rolling out the tough dough.  I might have  gotten a few new muscles making these so maybe I don’t want a noodle press =)

Badly Planned Picnic

30 Apr

Yesterday afternoon when the kids woke up from naps we headed down to our favorite camping/picnic spot called Pfeiffer Lake.  Our friends came up from Worthington MN (how can this state on MN be so darn big?).  It took them about seven hours to get to our house.  Our families survived seminary school, life and craziness and are forever tied together because of this experience.  Aleah has known their son since she was only two months old.

We threw some food in a couple bags and headed out with the canoe strapped to the roof.

Once we got to the lake we realized we forgot silverware, plates and we could have used a few more coats.  Ah well, necessity is the mother of invention right?

We used animal crackers to spread the peanut butter and ate the coleslaw mix with pretzels.  The guys ended up wearing the extra coats that the ladies brought.  Although they looked a bit goofy it all worked out and we had a beautiful night canoeing, warming up by the fire and creatively eating our dinner.

We felt like we were the only ones in the world, except for a couple curious loons.

Ice Sand Castles

27 Apr

This was happened about 6 weeks ago but I just have to share some of the pictures. We built sand castles with ice chunks that were seperating off Lake Vermilion.

It was around Saint Patty’s Day when the weather was alarmingly beautiful and warm.  Aleah was walking around in her swimsuit and we were building sand and ice castles.

I don’t know if I will ever have the chance to use ice in my sand castle building endeavors but it was great.

Secret Garden

25 Apr

I am in the process of reading “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

It is one of those books where you know how it goes so I have never read it before.  I saw the movie when I was a little girl and left it at that.

 I was browsing kindle books and found that this little gem was free.  What the heck, right?  Might as well give it a whirl.  I never would have gone out to buy this book or probably checked it out at the library.  But I am SO glad that I am reading it right now.

It would be hard to read in the middle of winter but it extremely fun to read in the spring.  Mary is so passionate about gardening and is beside herself when the seemingly dead earth begins to come to life.  I am about half way through the book and can feel myself getting the itch to garden and make things beautiful.  Here are some of my favorite passages thus far,

I love this first one because she feels herself being awakened-

“Living as it were, all by herself in a house with a hundred mysteriously closed rooms and having nothing whatever to do to amuse herself, had set her inactive brain to working and was actually awakening her imagination. There is no doubt that the fresh, strong, pure air from the moor had a great deal to do with it.  Just as it had given her an appetite, and fighting with the wind had stirred her mind.  In India she had always been too hot and languid and weak to care much about anything, but in this place she was beginning to care and to want to do new things.  Already she felt less ‘contrary,’ though she did not know why.”

This next one makes smile and want to garden:

“I’m getting stronger.  I used to always be tired.  When I dig I’m not tired at all.  I like to smell the earth when it’s turned up.”

And lastly,

“Might I, quavered Mary, might I have a bit of earth?  In her eagerness she did not realize how queer the words would sound and that they were not the ones she had meant to say.  mr Craven looked quite startled.  ’Earth!’ he repeated, ‘What do you mean?’  To plant seeds in–to make things grow–to see them come alive,’ Mary faltered.”

How rewarding it is so make things grow.  To make tiny little seeds blossom into giant sunflowers or into delicious vegetables.  Out of the earth.  What a wonderful and miraculous event that happens every spring.  It will never cease to amaze me.

Moving Time

22 Apr

Moving again?  Well, yes.  But his move will the our last for a loooooooong time.  I hate moving.  I really do not like it one bit.  We moved to Cook almost a year ago and stuff we packed away when we moved out of Bethel Seminary housing is still in those same boxes.  It is going to be like Christmas morning when we get to open up those boxes again and see what we have been missing.

We were in this house, July-September:

Then we moved to this house, September-May:

And finally we will be in this house, May-…:

(sorry no picture at the moment)

This is the house that belongs to the church(a parsonage).  It’s a cute and spacious home nestled in the corner of town, and it backs up to the Little Fork River.  We tried the housing market but nothing was quite right for us.  The houses were either a million dollars because they were on Lake Vermillion or they were major fixer uppers.  We aren’t afraid to do some work and fix up a house, but I don’t think Aleah and Sophi would be much help with that whole process.  And we have to be out of our current house before all the rich people come up to vacation at this house for the summer.

I am dreading the move but…

I AM SOOOOOOO EXCITED TO BE ABLE TO DECORATE A HOUSE!   I think I have been dying to set up a house since we got married.  Since our marriage we have moved six times.  Gag me.  Each of our residences have been temporary.  ”Just set up what you need to live and that will be fine” kind of apartments and living situations.

Do you know how excited I am so be able to make curtains for my kitchen and the girls rooms.  I get to decorate a living room and a bathroom and a downstairs!  Jared and I will be able to garden!  Our very own garden!  We will be able to paint the rooms whatever color we want.  Oh man, I am excited.

So in less than a month I will be taking you all on a journey of house decoration.  Excited?  Well, I guess I sort of am too =)

Iowa Baby Sleeper

20 Apr

One of my best friends is pregnant and due in the middle of August. A while ago she gave me some of her older clothes since she was going to donate them anyways.  In the pile of clothes I found a shirt that I knew meant a whole lot to her, and then got to thinking.

I decided to make a baby sleeper and surprise her.

Cut off the most of the sleeves of the shirt and pinned the sides and remaining sleeves a couple inches inward:

After sewing along the pins I added some elastic to the bottom of the shirt.  I used the seam that was already there and threaded the elastic through.

I cut the extra sleeves apart then sewed them to each other to make a cut hat.  I can’t remember how big a baby’s head is so I make the top adjustable.  It is simply tied together with some yellow fabric.  If it is too big or small the tie can come out and easily sized to fit perfectly.

And here is the finished product, can’t wait to see her little babe wearing this!

Yes, my friend is from Iowa, and very proud of it.  Go Hawkeyes! right?

This is my favorite sign from Iowa, heck yeah Fields of Opportunity!

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