…with her husband.
…and with this.
Simon and I never had engagement photos taken before we married in April ‘07, because I was here in North Carolina, planning our wedding, and he was in England, preparing us a home. So, needless to say, I was absolutely delighted for the sweet and talented Ashley Perry to take some pictures of us this week – two and a half years later.
I feel like she really captured us.
More to come soon. Meanwhile, I’ll be here, drooling over the rest.
Then mosey on over to www.faithdwight.com and check out the website my lovely husband built for me.
He’s a keeper, that one.
We’ve been living with our friends Steve and Sarah since the end of July. I love eating dinner with them and watching The Biggest Loser with them and having their support while we go through good stuff and bad stuff. I also love watching Sarah’s belly grow with their first child – a wee baby boy who will join their family in March of next year.
I snapped some photos of Sarah last week when she got home and we realized she’d grown several inches in a matter of a couple of weeks and finally looked really pregnant. In this one, she’s holding the ultrasound of her little boy’s foot – he’s now as long as a banana! Absolutely magical.
I’ve always been a little clumsy, a little forgetful, a little prone to accidents…
A few months after I met Simon, he invited me back to Chesham to meet his family and friends. We had Indian food and Chinese takeaways and went to see movies and hung out in the pub.
One night, as we sat in the King’s Arms, he asked me to hold his wallet, which I subsequently dropped, spilling his money and cards all over the dingy floor. I sheepishly gathered them all up, muttering my apologies. Later, a bartender chased us down the street with Simon’s credit card in hand. I was horrified – I’d left it under my chair. I looked at him apologetically.
“You’re a liability,” he said, with a little smile creeping across his perfect face. ”But you’re a lovely liability.”
Just when I think I’ve learned all there is to know about marriage…
Ha.
I’m a lover of the way God set up marriage to model his relationship with us. I’ve seen so many parallels between my relationship as a believer with God and my relationship as a wife to Simon…but it’s amazing that I seem to find a new one on a daily basis.
Simon left for work early this morning, and I’ve been puttering around the house, making coffee, taking a shower. I just came and sat on our sofa, and found his Bible open to Jeremiah, and the computer with the BBC Football page still open from last night, when he was checking the scores (as he does every evening). I smiled a little smile and felt all warm and fuzzy inside, thinking about my husband doing the things he loves. And then I started thinking: I love the things he loves, just because he loves them.
Since we began dating, he has introduced me to bands I’d never listened to before. Because of him, I now listen to Manic Street Preachers and Ryan Adams and even Antony and the Johnsons. I watch football (that’s soccer and, by the way, not fütbol. When English people play it, it’s football. Gah). A LOT of football. And I like Watford, because Simon likes them, (but mostly I like Arsenal). I’ve also fallen in love with films like Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, and James Bond and Indiana Jones. Because he loves them. And because I love him, I love what he loves. Things that weren’t appealing to me become beautiful, because the heart I love, loves them.
See where I’m going with this?
It occurred to me this morning, sitting here, thinking about how I love football because Simon loves football, that my relationship with God is like that. I love Him. And He loves the poor and meek and broken and hurting. He loves the orphan and the widow. He loves the sick and hungry. He loves Truth, and Justice, and Loyalty, and Compassion. And if I love Him, shouldn’t I love those things – the things He loves – as well?
As if my already substantial collection of feminine hygiene products wasn’t enough, it continues to grow at the speed of light. You see, although I buy the hush-hush items in bulk, with intentions of waiting six months between restocking, I repeatedly make blunders like the one I made today: out and about with Emily at Reynolda, enjoying tomato soup and cheese biscuits, when disaster strikes. You know what I’m talking about.
Which means we have to load up the 5-month-old in the car and drive to the nearest stockist of the cursed things (in today’s case, Family Dollar) and dole out $4.35 for yet another pack of Tampax Pearl. (Sorry Mom, I had to say it).
And that makes box number 4. I think I’m good till 2012.
…of baking.
My friend Emily (of teaching-me-to-make-sourdough-bread fame) and I get together almost every Wednesday for a play date during which we play, and her 5-month-old Evan watches us from his Soothing Vibrations chair.
Because we both love all culinary pursuits, and take great pride in our roles as Domestic Goddesses, we always incorporate cooking into our hangout sessions. We also usually incorporate a film, often one set in Europe, because, well, we love Europe.
Last time, though, we just made scones, and had tea like English ladies, and were ever so proud of ourselves all day long, and for several days after because, let me tell you: Best. Scones. Ever. I’ll admit we were a little intimidated before beginning, but somehow we pulled it off. Here’s how:
Ingredients
scant 4 cups white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
2 medium eggs, beaten, plus 1 egg, beaten, for egg wash
scant 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1.5 tbsp baking powder
3/4 stick butter, softened
1 cup milk
generous 1/2 cup golden raisins (or just regular raisins)
1. Go ahead and stick all the ingredients – except the egg for the eggwash, duh, and the golden raisins – into a bowl and, using a big spoon, mix for about 5 minutes. (You can also use a kitchen mixer with a paddle blade, but we’re not that fancy.)
2. Add the golden raisins into the dough and tip out onto a lightly floured countertop. Now, using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to about 2 inches thick, then, using a round cutter – or, if you’re less fancy, like us, a jar – cut out the scones.
3. Put the scones on a greased baking sheet and brush with the eggwash. If you have time – and I suggest you make time – chill the scones in the fridge for half an hour before baking. It helps them to rise straight up in the oven. Go ahead and preheat the oven now, while you’re waiting. 425 degrees Fahrenheit, please.
4. Finally, take the scones out of the fridge and brush the tops again with eggwash, being careful not to let it dribble down the sides. Apparently, if it does, it will hinder their rise in the oven. But I’m here to tell you there was some dribbling, and it wasn’t the end of the world. Bake for 15 minutes, let cool for a few minutes, then serve warm.
English scones are typically served with clotted cream and strawberry or raspberry jam, but as clotted cream is not generally readily available this side of Cornwall, we found whipped cream was quite nice.
How we did it:
1/2 a pint of heavy whipping cream and 2 tsp. sugar for a mild sweetness that goes oh-so-nicely with the scones and jam. Whip that mess with a hand mixer and then lick the beaters. Don’t let your baby watch closely, even though you think he’ll like the beating sound. He will not.
*Also, half our scones were cheese scones. All we did was leave out the raisins (please, eww) and add about 1/2 a cup cheddar cheese instead. That’s 1/2 a cup for half the recipe, kapeesh? And mix it into the dough with your hands, instead of using a spoon. Cheese scones are best eaten plain or with a smidge of butter. But really, do what you want.
**Original recipe from Paul Hollywood’s 100 Great Breads; adaptations by me.
I only chose the title of this blog because I was watching a promo for the Rachael Ray show and the girl who plays Rachel Berry on Glee is going to be on tomorrow, and she was singing the Christina Aguilera hit…
Anyway.
What this girl wants is more of the same. I feel like I’ve found myself again. The old Faith is back. Or is this a new Faith? Either way, I like her.
She cooks dinner almost every night (from scratch!), and bakes sourdough bread and scones and gives them all away to anyone who happens to walk through the door. She makes more jewelry and sews baby bibs for her pregnant friends. She teaches four classes a week and laughs a lot, and watches the Rachael Ray show in the mornings. She runs (2.5 miles now!) and goes for long bike rides, where she gets really sweaty but mostly likes the feeling of coasting down hills with the wind in her face.
I don’t think things will be just like they are right now for very much longer. Life always goes like that, in seasons – in ebbs and flows. But I’m just digging my toes into the sand while the tide’s out, and I’ll let it wash over me when it heads back this way.
I’ve got things to share with you. Things I’ve made, things I’ve fashioned with these two hands.
Feed me.