I’m sure you have all heard stories of people that have gone vegan or raw or some other level of “clean” eating and have vocalized how they have never felt better. I have always wanted to try it for a brief time frame just to see how it feels. I have embarked on a three week sprint in veganism sans gluten as well. The above picture is a creation of necessity that blew my mind. It is simply a halved avocado with  tomato-less corn salsa from Trader Joes. It is so yummy! 2 days down -19 days to go. I’ll let you know how “clean” I feel!

I had some adorable leopard print rain boots that I just threw away because the back of one of them ripped and was rendered useless; had I seen this cute display I would have kept them! However, I have an idea… use my children’s outgrown boots. Won’t that be darling! Oh! and grand kids’ boots, too cute!

Today was Tatianna’s annual NICU reunion. This is an event that honors former patients in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the family that loves them and the staff that nurtured them. We go every year and I look forward to it. It is a time of reflection where I remember with immense gratitude how blessed we are to have been able to have our healthy daughter come home with us.

Tia was born seven weeks early in 2005; miraculously she spent only 12 days in the NICU!  Every day feels like the equivalent to a month so it felt like a year. The experience was stressful save for the Amazing people God brought into our lives-most notably Tia’s nurse Raquel. During every reunion we have attended she has not been on shift, today she was! I called up to the NICU and she was able to steal away for a bit to come see her “little baby”. Look at how Tia just took to her like she knew her, it’s because in her soul Tia does.

Raquel was on shift the night after Tia was born. She was the one that placed Tatianna in my arms nearly 22 hours after her birth. I watched as Raquel moved around the room tending to each baby. The stillness of the night and the aura of tiny sleeping infants created an ambiance where one sees angels and I did. She cared for each precious soul as if it were her own child in an indescribable manner I had never before seen. Today she shared that she has since married and has a beautiful son of her own.

I am so thrilled for her baby. I can only imagine how exponentially more her love for her own child must be and how honored he is to have her as his mother. Seven years ago I walked out of the NICU one night with the peace of mind that she would love and care for Tia like I would, I told Raquel how much she meant to me and prayed she would find a husband that deserved her.

Today she praised God for fulfilling my prayer and thanked me for my desire to see her be loved. I told her “when you give love in that way it comes back you”. Although the idea of the NICU is on no one’s wish list; I value the time there because I saw the love of Jesus lived out in flesh. I felt like I had God’s cell phone number and he was just texting me direct messages in a way I had never before experienced. He met me when I needed him most and like always he never forgoes and opportunity to show up! Today was a beautiful day!

     There is a lovely Italian eatery near my folks. I finally went there last month even though I have driven by it for a decade now. My husband had the Pomodoro Basilico pasta last time we went and asked me to make it at home; additionally my son wanted to ride our bikes. Ethan recently graduated from a child seat to his own tandem like Tia so he has been eager to go riding.

      I decided it would be a fun outing to ride and get the ingredients from our neighborhood Trader Joes  to make the pasta dish- my man had a better suggestion to ride to Whole Foods because it is not uphill. Off we went and it was a glorious ride. I love Daylight Savings! I wish it never ended. Of course we picked up a few things we needed/wanted while we were there.  One contender was a mini watermelon, we had to pry it out of Tia’s hands at the register when I realized we had to put all these groceries in our bike baskets! We got home and had our neighbor take pictures (this is the “better” one above). The recreated  pasta was soooo good! I found a recipe online and then tweaked it. Here it is….

Pomodoro Basilico

1 box of Angel Hair pasta
1 28 oz can of Whole Foods 365 crushed plum tomatoes with basil
1/2 cup of good EVOO
1 minced yellow onion
3 garlic cloves
3/4 cup of  cooking red wine
1 Tbls of Balsamic Vinegar
3 Tbls of sugar
Salt and Pepper to taste
Parmesan to taste
Basil leaves to garnish

Cook the pasta. In another pot heat up Olive oil and onion until softened then add garlic and sautee for a minute. After add in the tomato, wine, sugar and salt and pepper. Let everything simmer and thicken for about 15 minutes. Pour sauce over pasta, sprinkle with Parmesan and torn basil (cutting basil causes browning via oxidation) leaves. Eat up!