{Chicken Noodles}

It's funny how memories can be tied to foods. When I was little I used to spend days over at my grandparents house making peanut butter cookies with my grandmother, and ever since, the smell and taste and making of those cookies reminds me of her. Of course, so do a lot of foods, particularly chicken noodle soup.

It's one of those comfort foods in our family that has been passed down and is made when we feel sick, or in need some soothing. Made from scratch it takes a couple of hours, and is a routine and familiar process. It's taken me years to try to perfect the noodles, sometimes too tough, too thick, to fuzzy ( Ask Jeff about the first time I tried to make them for him...hardy har), but regardless of the imperfections it always tastes of home, familiarity, and my grandmother.

So, yesterday, the day began with starting the broth, chopping the vegetables, and boiling the chicken. by the late afternoon I had a stockpot full of fresh noodles and a fragrant soup ready to be consumed.
In a strange land, it's a comfort to be able to have days like this where we can cook like we're at home, to have friends over and enjoy company, eating familiar foods, enjoying a banana split, feeling safe and secure and quelling any home sickness accumulated over the day.

More importantly, I enjoy paying homage to my grandmother in my cooking. I miss her, I miss Sunday dinners with family, and while everything is changing, shifting, and evolving in my life, sometimes it just a relief to have a moment of remembrance and comfort.
My noodles, were -almost- perfect, this time.

-Ashley

Late Night ( Early Morning?) Ramblings

What does one do at 2 in the morning when one can't sleep? Blog, of course!

Life has been very crazy and disorganized lately. Not that I can say that it's ever been all that organized to begin with. I've been juggling different jobs, tutoring a fantastic little boy, and continuing the less than motivated search for more permanent employment.

Married life continues to develop and unfold with the many quirks and nuances that come with it. It's been a hodgepodge of trials and blessings trying to learn to transition from being an independent young woman with very strong opinions about life and the way things ought to be to one person in a partnership. Negotiating pillow rights, bank account discrepancies, Netflix channels, and a myriad of other seemingly simple facets of every day life have gone from things that happened by way of second nature to things that are planned out, discussed, and occasionally argued out until a happy agreement ( otherwise known as I am happy in the agreement) can be reached. Even with all the many ways that I am re-learning to live life, there are still so many reward to outway the little trials that it always is worth it at the end of the day.

Family, as those who know me and read this blog know, is a circus in almost every way. This past week family on my mother's side has been flying into town to visit with my grandmother, who is having a particularly difficult time with her cancer. It's nice seeing people that I haven't seen since the age of six ralley to her side, and it's a nice chance to catch up on stories, memories, traditions, and sentiments that are often shared when family is gathered. While nothing formal has been arranged around this reunion, it's been just as nice to causally spend time together.

Today those of use that could got together to take pictures as  a family. It was poignant, and I felt out of place at some points while I watched my grandmother and her siblings sit together for the camera. While they were having their moments I was snapping pictures around the gardens and of Jeff and the cousins. Portraits will come later ( when I get my hands on the CD).

As Calmly as Possible

You know, I really like the act of blogging. It's cathartic, you get to report on the happenings of your life and thoughts in your head, and everyone wins at the end of the day. Lately though  I feel as though I've been stuck in a muddy pit with no motivation to climb the slippery walls towards freedom. Just as I feel as though I've gotten back onto the horse of life, I feel the wind knocked out of me with the news of some new terrible trial in my life.

And in that I feel terribly selfish, because really, it's not as though it's all happening to me. I'm quite a bystander. My grandmother is a tremendous woman. She has accomplished a great deal in her lifetime and is and should be revered by many. She is the most talented, compassionate, dedicated, and willful woman I know. To hear that she has this stage 4 pancreatic cancer seems completely out of sync with my entire perception of her. It's not fair that she should have to suffer through this, it's not fair that she's lived a healthy and well maintained life only to be knocked down with such a disease. In all of my not fairs, she is taking this is such stride, that she puts my pettiness to shame. This woman is the cornerstone of my family will be our strength to the bitter end, and beyond. I hope to be half the woman she is.

"I was already beginning to realize that the only way to conduct oneself in a situation where bombs rained down and bullets whizzed past, was to accept the dangers and all the consequences as calmly as possible. Fretting and sweating about it all was not going to help."
— Roald Dahl (Going Solo)