“Let’s have an adventure!”

We are adventurous. Considering that we trekked from Pennsylvania to Arkansas to live in a temporary apartment for summer, that’s adventurous. In general though, I consider us homebodies. We like to stay home. Except for when we leave the house to go get coffee. Blogging about our big-super-duper-interesting life seems to be a stretch, because like I said, we’re homebodies.

A sneak peek into our lives on a typical Friday night equals us sitting on the couch together. Drinking iced coffee. Brandon on his work laptop, doing his second job. Me on my laptop or curled up with a book. It’s not very exciting… but it is nice.

Sometimes we leave the house on date night. Sometimes we don’t. A few weekends ago, we did a Saturday afternoon date to Little Rock… where the city was surprisingly empty. Our thoughts, “EVEN BETTER!” (Homebodies no likey crowds either!). ;)


We strolled by the riverside… on the opposite shore than when we viewed the fireworks!


We didn’t even realize how far we walked until later, when my feet started aching. The river was calming, the roses were vibrantly beautiful and we got a real kick outta strolling by the kids running through the sprinkler area, especially the one little boy who crawled to the top of a rock ledge and was screaming “I’m king of the mountain!!!” Kids are hilarious.


Raindrops started falling and we ran for cover… right into the Little Rock library. Brandon buried his head in an engineering book and I found a fascinating tome on American foods. It was enlightening…. and it made me so hungry!

For pizza. I don’t care what anybody says…. pizza IS American. It’s hard to find a little American town without pizza, and it’s usually pretty delicious!


Little Rock has a historic district. We drove around looking at big ol’ houses. This one had a lot of security, a nice tall fence and a guard booth. Because it’s the governor’s mansion. I took a picture anyway (and had Brandon drive away really fast… just in case).



We took a drive to a new little coffee place and ended the day on a sweet note!


Affogato. The delicious concoction of a scoop of gelato or ice cream drowning in espresso. Soooo good. The ice cream gets a little melty from the hot espresso. We share the ice cream, but Brandon gets most of the espresso because the flavor is a little too strong for me. It’s a good-good deal. :)

The secret is out! It’s a BOY!

We are so excited! Though I gotta say, we would have been just as ecstatic with a girl. We had several conversations about wondering whether the baby would be a boy or girl. One of my midwives had a theory that it was a boy because of the heartbeat. Brandon thought we might have a boy first because his twin brother’s wife had a boy first. I thought that if we were doing it that way, my sis had a girl first so we had a 50-50 chance!

We did a silly list of pros and cons to having a boy or girl on the night before our ultrasound. It was fun, and hilarious, and the end result was that… we love both boy babies and girl babies, and we had no preference. I mean, boys are rough-and-tumble and great big brothers, but like Brandon said, “girls are just so darn CUTE!”

It feels like an eternity ago… but really, it was just less than six months ago when we took a whirlwind weekend trip to NYC. Brandon had never experienced the city and I was eager to revisit it. The trip has never hit the blog (though I did blanket Instagram with NYC pics, so go stalk there). We stayed in Brooklyn --- ‘cause we’re cool (and cheap) like that. We cooked breakfast every morning in our little vacation rental, took the subway EVERYWHERE, and still walked our poor little feet to the bones. It rained every single day so after the first night, I only brought my iphone along for documentation…. and to keep us on track with every restaurant and food place that we wanted to visit. Because I did some SERIOUS research, and I was ready with a food list!

We ate pizza every night.

We made sure to walk an extra fifteen blocks for the BEST New York bagels (so worth it).

We stumbled onto this sign. And it totally made sense.



And we stopped at Magnolia Bakery. This was a re-visit for me. Back in December 2010, my friend, Heidi and I stopped here because it is famous for cupcakes. All I remember (besides the fact that Brandon and I ended up sitting at the same table), was how regretful I was later because I wasn’t hungry enough to get a cupcake! Sometimes appetite should not matter. Really.


When I was doing my food research, I read that Magnolia Bakery is also famous for their banana pudding. And let me tell you, Brandon is CRAZY for banana pudding! Crazy-crazy-crazy. I hardly understand it because to me, if there’s no chocolate in something, it barely counts as dessert. But he loves it. So we were going for it.


Brandon got his banana pudding and I got a carrot cake cupcake (which was delicious). But I was pleasantly/greatly surprised that I actually really-really liked his banana pudding! I couldn’t quite figure out what was different about it…. maybe that it just tasted real.

Fast-forward to six months later and Brandon requests banana pudding…. so Google and I have a little chat, and I come to find out that Magnolia Bakery uses the same recipe in their bakery as is in their cookbook and there are folks making this stuff all over the food blogs. I make it, I love it and now I’m sharing it.

The secret: Real whipped cream. I should have known. :) Without further ado, the most magnificent banana pudding ever made (slight hyperbole).



Banana Pudding Parfaits
Inspired by Magnolia Bakery

1 (14 oz.) can sweetened condensed milk     
1 1/2 c. ice cold water
1 (3.4 oz.) box vanilla instant pudding mix
3 c. heavy cream
4 c. sliced bananas
1 (12 oz.) box Nilla Wafers

In a large bowl, beat together the sweetened condensed milk and water until well combined.  Add the pudding mix and beat well.  Cover and refrigerate for 3-4 hours or overnight.  It is very important to allow the proper amount of time for the pudding mixture to set.

In a large bowl, whip the cream until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold the whipped cream into the pudding mixture until no streaks of pudding remain. 

Layer bananas, Nilla Wafers and pudding mixture into individual parfait dishes or glasses. Cover tightly and refrigerate for 4 hours up to 8 hours, but no longer.  

Garnish with sliced bananas and crushed Nilla wafers.  Serves: 8-10

Naomi’s Tips: Since there are only two of us, I only made two parfaits. I froze the additional pudding mixture overnight and used it to create the most delectable strawberry milkshake smoothies the next day. Inventive, right?

I recently read a trails blog entitled, “Five Reasons to NOT Hike in Arkansas in the Summertime.” Those reasons included ticks, chiggers, poison ivy, snakes and heat exhaustion. So I gotta say, this is not encouraging me to go outside here in the Natural State… Then Brandon came home one day and mentioned a coworker’s comment about tarantulas and scorpions. I’m like, WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?!.. Just kidding. Kinda.

After Brandon finished his “second job” work (he works remotely for his PA company for about 20 hours a week, so that means he’s finishing that up late Friday night and Saturday morning before we get to do fun stuff!), we decided to brave the scary outdoors and do what we’ve been talking about for a month: CANOEING! :D

The weather was beeeee-you-ti-ful. 86 degrees and breezy, to be more precise. It was just warm enough that being out on the lake was refreshing. We paddled (errr, Brandon paddled most of the time) and floated and watched the rippling water. We talked and laughed and enjoyed the silence --- which was sometimes interrupted by my buzzing cell phone. Now before you judge my technology in nature, I was getting regular progress updates on the soon-arrival of my new nephew. So whenever my phone would buzz, I’m like, AHH! BABY!

Guardian Michael arrived at 7:57 pm (Pennsylvania time) and according to the pictures, is quite the little cutie (including the camo hat that someone put on his head)…. That made me laugh. While I wasn’t quite old enough when my little brother was born to remember his newborn squishyness, my sis thinks Guardian looks like him, so that’s cool. Though his little dark eyes and hair could be both his mommy and daddy. I would take a moment to whine about my nephew being in Pennsylvania and me being in Arkansas, but who am I to whine about the provision of God in my life that leads me here… and besides, it seems like just a #firstworldproblems thing to whine about. That’s not to say I’m not looking forward to squishing his cute lil cheeks and introducing him to Auntie Nomi & Unca B’andon. In a few months. Just a few months. :)

The rest of our Saturday included gym-going. We’ve been pretty consistent on gym-going for the last four weeks. It’s hard to not be when it is literally a block away. We walk to the gym, except during torrential downpours. Also, I like to joke with Brandon that I. Just. Don’t. UNDERSTAND. why we are both working out and he’s getting skinnier and I’m getting rounder… with a wide-eyed innocent look on my face. I mean, two words. Baby Belly. (insert tiny pregnancy update here: 19 weeks pregnant, hungry ALL the time and happy-happy-happy).

Somewhere around 8:30 p.m., our downstairs neighbors started to have a birthday party. Not a cute little kids party--- oh no, this was the kind of party where they are outside chanting, “BIRTHDAY SHOTS! BIRTHDAY SHOTS!” Which tells me two things: they are probably not old enough to be drinking anyway, and tonight is about to get super-annoying. So we did the mature thing --- and went to Walmart to stare at the $5 movie bin for an hour, in which we decided that movies are stupid. :) Ended up with the coolest documentary ever called Planet Earth. All about the amazing earth. It’s like 9 hours long, so we watched an hour and went to bed. What? Sleep is good!


Happy Father’s Day to Brandon!

Isn’t this triple berry galette the most delicious thing you’ve seen? My mouth is watering just looking at it again. I used this recipe for the galette, a.k.a. rustic tart. Because temporary apartments do not stock pie pans or rolling pins, much to my chagrin.

My inner conflict about Father’s Day is that people don’t know whether to say Happy Father’s Day to an expectant father or that he will be celebrating Father’s Day in the future. Since we believe that life begins at conception, it’s a pretty clear thing to me. So hence, my wonderful dessert-making. Baking for my husband is definitely one of my favorite things to do. He’s just so darn appreciative and complimentary…. And I like being able to eat homemade dessert, too. WIN WIN.

And that is my turbo-fast weekend in review.

What did you do this weekend?

Food is so nice, right? It is delicious (most of the time) and comforting (some of the time) and super-necessary for growing babies – or at least, that’s what all the websites tell me. I’m spending my time being mindful of what I’m eating and how much I’m eating of it… because I don’t wanna miss out on any necessary nutrients for baby and I also don’t wanna turn pregnancy into an excuse for gluttony (yeah. I said it.).

So let me tell you about three healthy foods that I’m into these days.

Kale. This crunchy leafy green is all the rage these days, and I don’t mind at all. Because I can buy this HUGE bag and munch on it for a couple weeks, and I feel healthier… and life is all about feelings, right? (#justkiddingincaseyoumissedthat). I like making kale chips because they taste so good. I just tried the Pioneer Woman’s recipe for Pan-Fried Kale as a dinner side dish and it is worthy of eating often. And last but not least, this morning I chopped up kale reeeeally small with some green onions and added it to my scrambled eggs.

Quinoa. This is my new favorite grain. Though when I told Brandon that, he said, “so you’re gonna eat it for two weeks and then be sick of it?” :D He knows me and my incessant need for variety. Quinoa (pronouced KEEN-wah) is a grain that is high in protein, and that’s one of the reasons that I like it so much. Protein is also good for growing babies. Also, this grain is super-versatile. I used in it grain salads, ate it with pinto beans and cheese and even served pan-seared chicken and gravy over quinoa. YUMYUM.

Coconut Oil. Healthy saturated fats. Healthy fats are my friend. I threw a little bit of coconut oil in my faux-frappucino the other day. Delicious. But my real winning discovery was my coconut oil modification of this recipe. I halved the recipe (mostly because our coffee cups here are TINY), and checked the new calorie count – it comes out to about 275 calories. For an afternoon pick-me-up indulgence, I’m happy as a clam with this recipe. :D Fudgy, decadent, a little coconutty but mostly just chocolatey… and not crazy-insane-wreck-your-healthy-eating. At least, in my world. :D



Mini Microwave Brownie-in-a-Mug (with Coconut Oil)

1 T. coconut oil
1 T. water
1 T. cocoa
2 T. sugar
2 T. flour
dash salt
dash vanilla

Heat coconut oil in mug in microwave for 20 seconds or until liquefied. Add other ingredients to mug. Stir thoroughly. Microwave for 30-45 seconds or until cooked, but still fudgy. Don’t overcook --- fudgy is better! Enjoy! :D

The rain is still coming down. I don’t know how many days in a row that it has been raining here in Arkansas, but it feels like foooorreeeevver (dear little nieces who are reading this blog entry, that is not really how you spell ‘forever’). This isn’t just normal rain. Sometimes the skies turn dark in the middle of the day and then the thunder rolls majestically and the lightning flashes and the electricity flickers. If one is driving, the road nearly disappears in front of you.

Maybe it’s a little boring to talk about the weather, and I’d rather remember sunnier times anyway, so instead, I’m gonna share about our fun little two-day vaca last week to Houston. Actually, it was only a two-day vaca for me, because Brandon spent his time doing “Welcome, Interns!” events for his company. No complaining though. We got to stay in a swanky hotel, and basically just bought my plane ticket and my food and I got to hang out in the hotel all day. Most of Brandon’s intern events happened in the hotel banquet areas so he’s stop in to the room throughout the day and give me free stuff that he won. It was great!

My travel started SUPER early (think 3:00 am) because my flight left at 6:00am and I had to finish up packing, be driven over to Little Rock and dropped off at the airport. Brandon had a direct flight with the group of Arkansas interns (paid for by his company), but we decided to save some $$ by choosing the cheapest flight with a layover in Dallas. The only thing memorable about my first flight was the lady next to me asking what kind of water the flight attendant would give out. I mean, how many kinds of water could there possibly be? But anyways, short layover in Dallas = everything bagel/cream cheese + chocolate milk for a snack. I know, that’s a silly-sounding snack…. I like dairy, and ummm, it had been a long time since my 4:00 am breakfast.

The second flight from Dallas to Houston gave me a slight headache because I happened to be sitting in between a boss and his employee, who proceeded to entertain me for an hour straight with funny stories. I didn’t mind the conversation --- they were nice folks with nice Tennessee accents, but there’s something about the social necessity of keeping a smile on your face for so long. It can strain one’s face muscles and give a headache. Also, I was hungry again (THE BABY IS HUNGRY EVERY TWO HOURS. FEED ME). lol :D


Arrived at the hotel via free hotel shuttle. Did I mention I was hungry? Brandon’s flight wouldn’t arrive for 2 1/2 more hours, so I needed to kill some time before checking in. Went to the hotel restaurant and ate an expensive, yet amazingly delicious Texas Burger. Because eating Texas burgers in Texas is just a good idea. Also, I ate a salad, because it’s healthy. I wish I had more interesting things to talk about than food, but… I don’t. :P Then I found a really comfy couch in the lobby and curled up with my Sherlock Holmes book to wait for Brandon’s arrival.

I think there was a nap sometime that afternoon. #napsareawesome


Did I mention that it is HOT in Houston? And I LIKED IT?! I’ve never been much of a pool person--- I think I’ve put my swimsuit on like two times in the last three years… and that was for a hot tub, in the winter. (This is also hilarious, considering that my parents own a swimming pool company.). I think it’s because I spent all my time inside air-conditioned offices and going outside in the heat didn’t sound fun.
But let me tell ya, hanging out at a deserted hotel pool in the middle of HOT Texas day? That’s great! Steaming weather and cool water are the perfect combination. Yes, I wore sunscreen. That’s what responsible adults do. :D



This was Wednesday and Brandon was in workshops all-day-long, so I amused myself by going to the pool, reading and eating at the hotel restaurant. Dining alone is quite interesting. I learned a lot about the folks sitting around me. Two gentlemen discussing sales to my left, a gaggle of business-women giving menu suggestions directly in front of me, and a pair of women who seemed to be discussing a partnership in business AND ministry on my other side. I couldn’t quite figure out that one, but I finished my cup o’ decaf coffee before they were done so I just had to walk away wondering. Hey, at least they were passionate!



More Sherlock Holmes. And Brandon won a gift card to Amazon.com! On Wednesday evening, Brandon eschewed the (optional) intern dinner at a seafood restaurant to stay in and order room service with me. It was woooooonderful. See our dessert! WONDERFUL. I’m pretty sure that fudgy brownies & ice cream are among my favorite desserts on the planet.

The next morning saw me at the pool again…. dude, it’s hot in Houston. Even at 9:30 am! (The Pennsylvanian in me is quite impressed).



The afternoon was all travel-fun. A free airport shuttle ride to the airport where one of my fellow riders commented that I was certainly traveling light! It’s true – I had a purse and a backpack. Brandon had the big suitcase. One of the perks of marriage. :D I made it to the airport, through the looooong TSA line (I prefer doing airport security at 5:00 am, because it takes like 5 minutes!) and to my airport gate. Where I sat on the floor because there were no chairs available and consoled myself with this.



I hashtagged this as #lonelyeating on instagram, and spent my time texting Brandon about what I was eating and why. “dear Brandon, I miss you. So I’m eating Sour Patch Kids.” :D



We used the time that we were in Houston to get our car’s brakes repaired. Since we only have one car here, it takes a little creativity to get things done. Consequently, I had to get a taxi ride from the airport to our little apartment. The taxi driver was a nice little older man and quite the talker --- and I didn’t mind a bit, because he answered all my burning questions about Arkansas. What are those questions, you may be asking?

Are there really hot springs in Hot Springs, Arkansas? The taxi driver laughed at me for this one, but I thought it was a fair question. Cities get named things for all sorts of weird reasons, so I didn’t want to assume that there were hot springs if there weren’t! But there are! Apparently, people go there for the nice hot mineral bathhouses and it’s quite refreshing. Interesting.

Why do trees grow in the middle of lakes around here? I asked this question quite abruptly because we were driving by the lake where the trees just grow up out of the water. Not the edges of the lake, the MIDDLE of the lake! It’s one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen. Anyway, Taxi-Driver-Man says they are cypress trees and they just grow that way, but also don’t hang out under those trees in a boat, because the water moccasin snakes like to fall out of the trees. THIS IS VERY GOOD TO KNOW.

And so ended my two-day vaca.

Man, I’m glad to be “home.”

Now I’m gonna go thump-thumping down the stairs to change the laundry. :D

Ya know what they say? Never say never. I always thought, “I don’t understand bump photos. They’re weird. Why do people post them?” And then, I had a happy little baby bump and a large collection of friends who happen to be miles and miles away from me. I know what will happen – I’ll go home in August and everyone will be all like, “OHMYGOSH, NAOMI, YOU’RE HUGE.” (actually, let’s really hope that doesn’t happen). Hehe. The point is, I must keep said friends updated with the progress of my pregnancy…. since you can’t see it in person. *waves to PA friends!*

So there ya go! I’m officially 17 weeks along. To translate: it’s the second trimester, yay! Random people have begun asking me if we’re expecting… so I guess that’s a good thing. I have officially moved beyond the looking-like-I-ate-too-many-Twinkies stage. Good. ‘Cause I don’t even like Twinkies.

I met with my Arkansas midwife last week and that was fun. Travelling for the summer is kinda annoying because I have a Pennsylvania midwife and now an Arkansas midwife…. and in three months I’ll go back to my PA midwife. I’d prefer to have just one. But life throws ya curveballs and one just has to roll with the punches. It is what it is. :D

The really fun part is that I heard our baby’s heartbeat again!! Which is awesome. Brandon and I have begun referring to the baby as Squish-Squish… because that’s the sound of the heartbeat. ;) And it’s waaaaay better than calling the baby “it” until we know whether it is a boy or a girl. Also, it’s pretty great that this has turned into calling random babies “squish-squish.” Like “aaaah, did you see those parents that took their little squish-squish up for prayer at church today? I hope everything’s all right.” And “look! a squish-squish!” (Yes, talking about babies is great and funny!). :D



Other fun updates:

Books. I’ve been keeping busy doing pregnancy reading. Honestly, I did so much baby reading prior to pregnancy, I kinda ran outta good books. At my midwife appointment last week, I was excited to see a few titles that I hadn’t been able to find at my library at home. Pregnancy books are an odd genre because a) everybody’s got different opinions about everything, so it takes some mental sorting, and b) birth by nature is an ‘earthy’ kind of experience, so the details are a little icky to read. I mean, seriously, it’s all like, BLOOD! LABOR! TMI! Ya know? It’s like a recall of every baby shower and women’s retreat I’ve ever been to in my life (what? you weren’t inundated with countless birth stories as a teenager?). ;) But I gotta say --- pregnancy books are still about 100x better than online pregnancy forums. That’s where the real crazies come out. Also, it amazes me how many people ask questions to the random internet that should be directed to people that actually KNOW STUFF --- like medical professionals or even older women that have been mothers!

Food Cravings & Aversions. I like food. The highly-sensitive-food-aversions of the first trimester have passed, which is nice. I still hate the smell of Subway… but I don’t think that will ever change. :D I finally enjoy coffee again! Not enough to drink it every day – which is better anyways. But since this is hot Arkansas, I’ve been doing cold-brew decaf iced coffee a few times a week and it’s a nice treat! Every time I make it, I’m like, why even go to Starbucks? This stuff is amazing --- and it didn’t cost me $4 for a cup!

In answer to the “have you had pregnancy cravings?” question – no, not really. There’s some food that I prefer over others --- like the fact that I’d rather have ice cream for dessert, rather than just some dark chocolate. I’m loving the fact that I have more time to cook better, i.e. healthier. Time to prep fresh vegetables, visit the farmer’s market, try my hand at baking homemade wheat bread, throw together morning smoothies and simmer beans on the stove. I really love cooking, and it’s great to be able to do more of it, and it’s very helpful to finally be cooking our meals right before we eat them --- rather than the crazy spring/fall semester schedule that had been me packing 90% of our food in lunchboxes to be eaten throughout our workdays! (I am definitely in the insanely-grateful-to-be-staying-home category of homemaker).

I’m trying really hard to be mindful of what I’m eating and how often. Always trying to get more greens into my diet by throwing some kale in my broccoli-cheddar soup (Brandon raved about that soup), or throwing some spinach in a strawberry smoothie or finding new dinner recipes. Sometimes I feel a little whiney, like “why are vegetables sooo booooring?” And then I remember that adults are not supposed to whine. :P And I remember that ALL the food groups are necessary… so I go drink some milk and I feel better. :D

Heart Thoughts. It’s difficult to put words to the swirling thoughts in my head about pregnancy. The inner turmoil of the first trimester was relentless. Having seen many close friends and family go through miscarriages in recent years, you could say that I was fighting hard against anxiety. But God is good and God is big and He carries my heart in His hands. As I continue to walk this journey, I’m falling into more trust of my God.