Tag Archives: pizza

It’s the Little Things

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little things

In yesterday’s blog I whined about having nothing to say. As I was getting ready for work this morning, my brain wouldn’t shut off and I had to grab my phone to record some blog thoughts before they became wisps in the wind of my mind. A not unusual occurrence actually.

Here is the actual note I typed at 7 a.m…”If I could do it all over again – less whining, not a snob, embrace adventure, take care of me, love harder, less concern about punctuation.”

It all seemed so profound at the time. Now that half the day is gone and I’ve walked through the blustery wind to find my favorite gyro truck wasn’t downtown at noon, nothing seems profound. Except pizza. With the gyro truck nonexistent (I had promised my good friend a gyro for her early birthday present), I racked my brain for a quick solution. It was extremely cold standing on the street by my no-show gyro truck spot. My ah-ha moment – need pizza. No – really – it’s called Need Pizza and besides being very good and affordable, it was only a half-block away. Bonus? It’s on the sky walk so I could walk most of the way back inside. Truly. people, it’s the little things.

Have you taken advantage of the little things? We encounter so many throughout the day. And ignore their existence most of the time. Little things like my phone being another device to record random thoughts…hot coffee still in the pot after every one else has left work (and I’m still there)…peppermint candies after garlic pizza (everyone should appreciate that!)…20% off coupons at my favorite consignment store…phone calls from your son in the middle of the day “just to talk”…a warm headband left in my backpack…a crisp apple…a new recipe…sharp pencils…

The blog about “if I could do it all over again” will happen sometime…but today is about celebrating the little things. So go out there and search…or sit back and ponder – either way, be grateful for the joy brought by the minuscule moments, the minute details that surround you every day.

Matthew 13:31-32   He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

 

Food Thoughts After the Roadtrip

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If you’ve been keeping up with my social media postings, ask yourself “why?” Really, people. Get out there and live your own life!

#RoadTripWeekend just concluded! We got into our beds around 3 o’clock this morning, exhausted from driving through thunderstorms all the way from Madison, Wisconsin. There may have been a few miles with no rain, but very few. And my amazing husband did all the driving on the way home. Thankfully we found a BP gas station open at 1:30 a.m. in Dubuque. Not sure our bladders would have made it otherwise.

Today I’m reflecting on the ups and downs, the good and bad points from the whole experience. Interestingly enough, I did have a few disappointments. For one, my food consumption was not only unhealthy but also didn’t taste all that great either. Seriously – if I’m going to partake in mega amounts of calories, fat and sugar, it should be worth it, right?

maple bacon

So here is the best food of the weekend: Definitely CJ’s Bagels and Topped Doughnuts in Ankeny. I only had one bite of Sean’s bagel breakfast sandwich but it was sooo good. The maple bacon doughnut and sugar-coated twist were wonderful. Melt-In-Your-Mouth-Delicious. We will be visiting this place again real soon.

vesuvius pizza

Another great find was Vesuvius Wood-fired Pizza in Ames. It may have been the company (my youngest son), the fact that I adore pizza, or the toppings (Buffalo chicken and bleu cheese) but this small place was big on flavor, and wasn’t very expensive. Perfect meal right before a movie.

Honorable mention goes to the breakfast casserole, fresh fruit and protein balls I had for brunch on Sunday morning. I won’t embarrass the cooks but for newlyweds, they did a great job! Yes – I had seconds on everything. I don’t have the recipe (yet) for the protein balls but I know they contained peanut butter, honey, oatmeal, chocolate chips, chia seeds, flax and probably some other good stuff. May have been the only somewhat healthy thing I ate all weekend.

Tied for worst of the weekend: both BBQ restaurants. This is very sad. I love BBQ. I took special people out for BBQ both times and both times they disappointed. Granted, I took people who had recently experienced BBQ in Kansas City and Memphis, so the bar was set pretty high, but it wasn’t even close. I won’t say that I would never go back but there are a lot of great places I’ll try out first.

I’ll try to blog more tomorrow on some other aspects of this amazing weekend. Expectations met and a few disappointments too. But tonight is all about sleep. Serious sleep.