You Have a Choice

I love this quote because of the choice it reminds us of (and Gandalf is one of my favorite characters):

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

J. R. R. Tolkien

Friday Introduction /// Thank You for Following Me

Hi! I'm Mary (or Mrs. Schuh if I was your Language Arts teacher). Here's some of my story…
///
At age two I started filling notebooks with squiggles, and I have loved writing since then; my grandma and Mom also wrote and teach — I guess writing is in my blood! I started a blog, Trees of Transition, for fun four years ago, and have enjoyed sharing stories, photos, thoughts on transitions.
///
I started snapping photos with a little film camera at about age 10, and I've enjoyed taking photos since then wherever I go — Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Southwest USA, and lots from my home area of the Midwest USA. About 2 1/2 years I started a card shop where I turn those photos into cards, Trees of Transition Art & Design, on Etsy selling photography and pressed flower cards. I desire to help support people going through life transitions, so 10% of business' profits goes to a ministry that is helping people going through life transitions, such as adoption or unexpected pregnancy.
///
Currently I'm going through a huge life change of moving from being a classroom teacher to being a stay at home wife and mom with a small business. (I have a little boy sticking his foot in my ribs — he is due to arrive in November!)
///
If you know someone who likes nature cards, please share my site with them, and thank you for stopping by!
-Mary H. Schuh

Photo credit to my wonderful sister-in-law, Lindsey of Triple Lux Photography

P.S. Thank you for stopping by! I insert affiliate links, such as Amazon, into my posts to share interesting books and products. If you buy something or start a registry, I receive income, for which I am thankful. So…

— shop on  Amazon

–shop at my Etsy photo card/notecard/art shop: Trees of Transition Art & Design

–keep on reading this blog.

Thank you again, and peace to you and your family!       ~Mary Hope

Baby Bumps with Friends 

A few months back when my friend Betsy, who I have known since first grade, told me she was pregnant with her second baby, I whooped with joy! Then, a couple months later, I got to tell her that I was pregnant, and she gushed with happiness. Last summer she had moved to Tennessee, so I have seen her a lot less, but last week my husband and I visited her and her family. We got to celebrate being pregnant together! We snapped some “baby bump” pictures together on Wednesday night to celebrate her being 29 weeks and my 20 weeks along:

Picking Maryland Crab

We are visiting friends in Maryland right now, and they treated us is freshly boiled crab with bay spice. Here’s the process:

First cover the table with brown paper, and get the wooden hammers ready to whacking the claws:

Opening Letters Written Ten Years Ago

The John Hancock Building in the Clouds

What would your “ten years younger self” say to you today? Well, I got to find out. Ten years ago I was finishing college, unmarried, full of dreams, and I had two great friends named Tiffany and Chelsea. We decided to write letters to ourselves and to each other that we would open in ten years—the date we chose was March 24th, 2017.
The letter idea came after a fun night of food at the Loring Pasta Bar in Minneapolis, and then we went to the 9th floor of the Guthrie Theatre to write letters to the person we would be in ten years… A month later we decided to write letters to each other as well to open on March 24th, 2017.

Every year or two over the last ten years, Tiff or Chels would mention “March 24th, 2017!” and we would smile and dream. Time moved faster and faster, and we arrived on the awaited date last month. We had thought we would meet in Minneapolis, but none of us lived there anymore, so we met in Chicago where two of us live, and Chelsea drove over her from Iowa to visit her Dad and us.

 

We moved on from the 9th floor of the Guthrie Theatre (“our” cool spot ten years ago) to the 96th floor of the John Hancock building (that is 87 stories taller!) At the Signature Lounge, we got a table, talked, and then pulled out our ten year old letters! Between us we had moved almost 20 times, but we all protected our letters (by keeping them with important papers). We decided to read each of the letters out loud, and the resulting inspiration, joy, and gratitude surprised me. It felt like we had church up there in that lounge. The words we had written to each other were still true–the encouragement, love, and kindness expressed through those letters was timeless.

Each of us have grown and matured, and many of our dreams that we wrote about in our letters have come to pass. We are not as starry-eyed and idealistic as we were in our twenties, but the faith we expressed in those letters is inspiring and nudges me to continue growing in my faith! We cried, hugged, and ate lots of food while talking about what we had written.

We have written new letters to open on March 24th, 2027, and who knows what will happen in THESE ten years?

~Mary Hope
P. S. The notecards I used to write my new letters are from Trees of Transition Cards:  Photo Greeting Cards
P. S. S. If you want to see more about Chicago Architecture, such as the John Hancock Building check out:

Copyright 2017

Wedding Reception Sunset Flowers

Sunset colors is my goal for the reception flowers. I had fun yesterday scoping out a wholesale flower place to figure out what flowers to buy. Here’s what I found:

   
    
   
Do they look like a sunset to you?

Peace!

Mary Hope

Copyright 2016

Thai Basil Chicken and Noodles

You know those weeks when the grocery budget is tight? That’s when I decide to use what is in the pantry and freezer, and this recipe is what resulted from what was in my kitchen last night. My friend came over for dinner, and she helped me fry up these Pad Thai inspired noodles; what is different from regular Pad Thai is that it has more large vegetables, no onion or ginger (it wasn’t in the fridge!), and has more of citrus notes in the flavor.

Here’s the recipe! Watch out because my friend and I ate over half of the pan ourselves…

Makes 4 large servings

Ingredients:

1/4 c. soy sauce

3/4 lb chicken breast, chopped (raw)

2 Tblsp. coconut oil

1 (4 oz.) can mushrooms

1 (6.35 oz.) jar bamboo shoots, sliced

1 (8 oz.) can water chestnuts, sliced

2 Tblsp. minced garlic

1/4 c. chopped fresh basil leaves

4.5 oz. (half a package) pad thai rice noodles

1/2 c. coconut milk

3 Tblsp. cornstarch

1/2 c. salted peanuts

 

Sauce ingredients:

1 1/2 Tblsp. soy sauce

2 Tblsp. lime juice

3 Tblsp. rice vinegar

2 Tblsp. fish sauce

2 Tblsp. brown sugar

1/4 tsp. ground pepper

Mrs. Holverson’s Fresh Strawberry Pie

Twenty years ago, when I was a teenager, Mrs. Holverson served this pie at a pool party birthday celebration for her daughter, Amy. I loved the pie, so I asked how she made it. She gave me enough directions to know how to make it; I wrote it down in a little cookbook, and I pulled it out when I had a lot of strawberries yesterday. This pie still is amazing!
One more funny thing about that pool party: Mrs. Holverson let all of us girls know that if we wanted to pick strawberries, we could. So for the second half of the party, instead of playing in the pool, I picked a whole flat of strawberries, and then made pie when I got home!

The Recipe:

1 baked 9″ pie shell
4 cups strawberries, sliced
1 cup crushed strawberries
2/3 cup water
1 cup sugar
4 Tblsp. cornstarch
1 Tblsp. lemon juice

Preserving Excited Love: Engagement Photos

I love seeing people in love! Being able to capture photos of the excited love after an engagement happens is an honor. Love has many seasons, and the engagement season contains great joy, so why not take special photos during that time.

Another photography first for me: Last Sunday I snapped engagement photos for my friends. I had a few ideas, and then let them tell me what and where they wanted photos. I clicked away, and some of my favorites are below.

I’ll let the photos show you more of what happened:

Two Tips: How to Find Lively, Interesting Writers on WordPress

Did you know you can watch the feed of what is getting published right now on WordPress? It’s under the “What’s Hot” section and the tab is called “Latest.” Did you know that each day there are several fellow bloggers who have the top blog on WordPress? We choose the top blog by reading it the most, but WordPress shows it to us. These two features have lead me to many intriguing bloggers and blog posts.

To find this fountain of interesting information, go to the WP Admin page, and look toward the bottom for the “What’s Hot” section. There you will see the tabs of top blog, top posts, and latest (blog posts being published).

Where do your readers come from? I have a few friends and family reading my blog, but many of those of you who post, like, and read my blog are people I have never met. I’ve connected with you through finding your blog under a certain tag, seeing an interesting comment you’ve posted, or I’ve found you through the WordPress “Latest” feed.

Be wise about what you click on because there are people who are posting degrading material, so a good rule of thumb for me is “Would I like to show this to my Mom?” If a post’s title makes you curious or hopeful, or hungry, click away.

Also, you might come across sad or desperate posts…there is so much life happening in each writer who blogs here. I’ve read posts written after break-ups or when very depressed. I try to post something hopeful on their wall, if they allow it.

Here are some examples of some what I found over the last week:

Friday, 3/6 I met: A Woman Blessed

The blog, A Woman Blessed, has beautiful, hopeful thoughts even though the author is passing through a very hard time over the past few months after her husband passing away.

Monday, 3/9 I came across: Girl Meets Herself

She has a lively way with words that make you interested and want to read more of her writing.

You can also see great posts by looking at the Top Posts of the day. Today one of the top posts is called “387 hours” (See: Baby Pragel).

A Mom with a tender little girl shared her joy that her daughter, beating the odds, has lived that many hours.

Wednesday, 3/11 This top post blogger drew me in: Blaise Foret

His unpacking of unhealthy religion helped me understand deeper some of the experiences I have gone through. Fear-driven organizations damage people. His most recent blog post is full of hope in the midst of him telling his tough story.

The top posts tend to be very emotional and inspiring or at least thought-provoking.

The latest posts show you who is publishing posts right now. I’ve come across writers who just started their blogs, so it has been neat to encourage them or follow them.

I hope you find some new friends, deeper inspiration, and encouragement from looking occasionally at the “Latest” tab; it’s like going on a miniature adventure!

Cheerio.

~M. H. Campbell

Copyright 2015