Morning Prayer, Interrupted

I love the blog Everyday Liturgy and this post made me smile.  It is actually a link from another blog but after reading this entry I immediately bought this woman's book on Amazon.  She is my inspiration as a fellow lover of all things liturgy.  What an awesome family... check out the link below:


Morning Prayer, Interrupted

Liturgy Lives

As some of you know I have a love for liturgy. For my birthday, a friend of mine gave me a copy of the United States Book of Common Prayer from 1818.  I find it awe-inspiring that I am praying the exact words that churches all over the United States have been praying for over 200 years... and God is still listening.  While reading it tonight I came across a beautiful prayer for a someone who is ill:

O Father of mercies, and God of all comfort, our only help in time of need; look down from heaven, we humbly beseech thee, behold, visit, and relieve thy sick servant, for whom our prayers are desired.  Look upon him with the eyes of thy mercy; comfort him with a sense of thy goodness; preserve him from the temptations of thy enemy; give him patience under his affliction; and in thy good time, restore him to health, and enable him to lead the residue of his life in thy fear, and to thy glory; Or else give him grace so to take thy visitation, that, after this painful life ended, he may dwell with thee in life everlasting, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

I am pretty sure that this prayer is much better than anything I could ever come up with on my own.  This is why I love liturgy.

Best Slow Cooker Recipe... ever

Tonight we had one of my favorite meals... Slow Cooker Chicken with Olives.  Ryan puts it all together in the morning and when I get home from work it is like a small slice of heaven.  It is so good with jasmine rice (I used the microwavable Trader Joe's kind) and roasted asparagus.  For those looking to spice up their weeknight dinners, give this a try.

Slow Cooker Chicken with Olives
Makes 2 - 4 servings

2 - 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 T oregano
2 bay leaves
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 T capers (you can omit if you don't like capers... I LOVE them)
1/3 cup olives (green or black)
1/3 cup brown sugar

Place chicken in slow cooker.  Mix together remaining ingredients and pour over top of chicken.  Cook on low for 6 to 7 hours.  Good served over rice.

And the leftovers are even better the next day!  Let me know if you try it...

Cambria Trip Run Down

Thank goodness for Travel Zoo… Ryan and I got away to Cambria for $259 (two nights at the Cambria Pines Lodge which also included dinner and wine at their restaurant).  For those of you that don’t know, the central coast of California holds a special place in Ryan’s heart.  His family vacations always included Cambria and Morro Bay much like mine always included Yosemite.  Before we started dating I had never been to the central coast. Now we both share a passion for this beautifully rustic and laid back place.

We left bright and early Saturday morning so that we could be sure to make it to Morro Bay by lunchtime.  Morro Bay also means a great deal to my friend and former roommate Belinda.  Her family loved to camp in this small rustic fishing town.  Just a few days before we left for our trip her father passed away. Although I was not at the funeral, I heard that there was an entire portion of the slide show that included many family memories in Morro Bay.  

Our favorite quick place to eat while we are here is Giovanni’s.  They have the best fish and chips in the entire world and luckily we arrived just before the lunch rush because there was a line when we left.  After lunch we hit the cute little shops and The Garden Gallery (Ryan’s favorite).

Giovanni's!

The View from the Patio

Rockin out with my otter friend

After lunch we headed out to Morro Rock. Every time we park our car at the base of the rock we can see a handful of otters.  This time we saw a mama otter (or dad otter) with a baby on her tummy.  So precious to my heart. Then, of course, we checked out the surf and Ryan drooled but seeing as the water temp is much cooler than in So Cal and the surf wasn’t that great he resisted the temptation.

Once we got to Cambria we checked into our hotel which was lovely but we were put in the old section of the hotel where the walls were thin and a wedding party invaded.  They gave us a nicer room the second night so I really can't complain. Dinner at the hotel was nice (we had a view of a wedding) but nothing to write home about.

The Gardens at Cambria Pines Lodge

Sunday morning we drove through Moonstone Beach and then headed up to see the Elephant Seals just past Hearst Castle.  It’s a pretty spectacular sight that always amazes me.  In an effort to get closer and to see more of the coastline Ryan and I found a trail off the beaten path and decided to explore.  This was a bad idea.  Once we got back to the hotel we realized we had ticks on us.  So gnarly.

I call this "The Trail of Ticks" 

We had lunch at Las Cambritas which was especially rad since they had live music which included covers of Fleetwood Mac, Eric Clapton and other KOST 103.5 favorites.

After lunch we continued to walk around town and once we were sure that we were free from all ticks, we decided to do go to Robin’s Restaurant for their live music in the garden that started at 5:00pm.  What a GORGEOUS place with an AWESOME loose leaf tea selection (and beer selection… Stone!).  We both got a bowl of lentil soup and took in the beauty that is the central coast and commented on how luckily we are to live in such a beautiful state.

We then headed to dinner at the Indigo Moon.  We kept it light because the soup was so filling.  Ryan got the Ahi and I, of course, ordered the cheese plate.  Ryan got the Syrah and I got the Zin.  Once again, a beautiful restaurant with garden views.

All in all, despite the ticks, it was a lovely vacation and I look forward to doing it again as soon as we possibly can.

Mexican Fan Palms...really?

So we have decided to start this blog to keep you abreast of all things Carlsbad Johnson's... for those of you that have spent any recent time with my husband its only a matter of minutes before he starts rattling off the scientific names of Southern California palm trees.  He is becoming minorly obsessed which is great for the palm packed backyard but not so much when I want to use the computer and I walk in and find him researching more palm trees ("palm porn" as my sister would say).

Currently we have the following types of palm trees in our backyard: Fishtail (my favorite), Foxtail, Flame Thrower, King, Queen, Royal... hmmm, I am sure there are more and Ryan can provide the scientific names later.  He is also looking to add the Teddy Bear Palm to the collection... cute right?

While setting up this blog I noticed that my only palm tree template option was what I call "Ugly Mexican Fan Palms at Sunset."  If you live in Orange or San Diego County you know the palm trees I am talking about... the ones that look like they have uncombed mullets (thank you Hendo) or are just complete rats nests when they aren't trimmed.  At least the ones in the background of this blog don't have dead fronds hanging every which way.  So needless to say Ryan and I love most palm trees (minus the Mexican Fan Palm).  I am sure that there is a way to change the template background with a picture of our favorite palms but I haven't figured that out yet.

More to come...