The Story of Ingaborg & Ambrose

Awhile back, Dan and I found a birds nest that had been built in some rafters, hanging on the side of our house. Inside the nest was a dove, sitting on two eggs.

Eventually those eggs hatched, and neither babies made it.

Not long after, the dove returned & made another nest in the same spot. She sat on two eggs again, and this time they made it.

I'm not sure if they were female or male, but we named the baby doves Ingaborg and Ambrose. Ingaborg was Dan's late Grandmother's middle name, and Ambrose was my late Grandfather's middle name. And they both HATED those names with a passion. Dan & I always said if we had birds or fish some day, we'd name them Ingaborg and Ambrose. :)

Saturday morning Dan found one of the birds on the ground. It wasn't injured, so we're guessing it was learning how to fly. yay! I was worried the mama bird wouldn't be able to find him to feed him.. so I asked Dan to put him back in the nest.

As Dan went to put him back in the nest, he realized the other baby bird didn't make it. :( We weren't too surprised as it seemed to be the runt of the two.

Dan put the other baby bird on the hill where his mom & dad would eat. I figured he could eat something there, and maybe the mama bird would find him. Dan placed him on the hill and within 5 minutes the mom & dad birds came over and started loving on their baby. Dan and I watched, in total awe, for awhile. Most mama birds leave their babies to fend for themselves, but these doves were like a real family. It was absolutely amazing..

I know this picture is sort of blurry since I took it from a distance, through a window. I didn't want to disturb their reunion. :) The baby dove is right below one of the larger doves.

They sat like that for most of the day. Sitting with their baby, giving it warmth.

Once it got dark out the mom & dad doves had flown away, and the baby dove sat by himself on the hill. After doing some research online, Dan & I decided to put a towel in a shoe box, and keep the dove warm for the night.

But when we went outside, the baby was gone. We looked around for a couple minutes and figured it must have figured out how to fly, or found a warmer place for the night.

Sunday morning I went out to look for the baby. As I was looking, I realized the mama dove was perched on the edge of our roof, looking down at the spot she had reunited with her baby, the day before. And then I spotted the baby dove.. on the ground, behind one of our trash cans.

I called for Dan to see if the baby was o.k., and he told me it had passed away.

Queue me bawling my eyes out for 1/2 the day.

And then the saddest part.. the mom & dad dove sat in that same spot on the hill for a good part the day.. waiting for their baby dove to show up.

Queue more crying.

Even that evening I spotted the mama dove perched on our fence.. looking down at that same spot.

And queue some more crying.

It absolutely broke my heart.

And I think maybe IF has made me more sensitive to these sorts of things. All I could think was that this poor mama dove had tried before and lost both babies.. and now she had lost two more. Hopefully she'll try again, and hopefully the next one will make it.

Rest in Peace.. Ingaborg & Ambrose.

Foodie Friday: Italian Wedding Soup

Last night I tried out another recipe from my Trader Joe's cookbook.. Italian Wedding Soup. For those of you not lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's near by, don't fret! Every ingredient can be bought at any grocery store. Yippeee!

This soup was really easy to make, and so delicious. I know this for a fact because after Dan finished his bowl, he moved on to mine. haha. It was probably not the best idea to make a hot soup on a Summer night but eh.. we survived. It will definitely be a repeat recipe.. especially since Fall is right around the corner!

Before I give you the recipe, here's a little history on Italian Wedding Soup, that I got from the TJ's cookbook:

Despite Common belief, the name for this soup actually has nothing to do with a couple's big day. It refers to the winning combination of greens and meat. In Italian, two things that go well together are said to be "well married," and hence the name for this tasty dish. There are endless variations to wedding soup; just make sure meat and greens are involved.

Italian Wedding Soup

Ingredients:
20 frozen party size mini meatballs (you can really use any size frozen meatball you'd like)
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup diced carrots or halved baby carrots
4 cups (one 32-oz carton) Organic Free Range Chicken Broth-Low Sodium (again, 4 cups of any chicken broth will do)
3 cups fresh swiss chard or spinach (I used chard)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup grated or shredded parmesan cheese (I used fresh grated parmigiano-reggiano..holler, Giada!)

Directions:
Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, garlic and carrots. Cook for 5 minutes. (Stir to avoid anything sticking to the bottom of your pot)
Add chicken broth and meatballs. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. (Stir occasionally)
Add swiss chard (I chopped mine first.. about the same size you would for a salad) and boil for 5 minutes longer. (It might seem like a lot of chard as you're throwing it in the pot, but it quickly shrinks up).
Ladle into soup bowls. Garnish with parsley & parmesan cheese.

Mangia!

Thankful Thursday

Today I'm thankful for carpet. I know, I know.. I need to get over the damn carpet. But I LOVE it. I saw it in person yesterday when I got home from work and it's the exact color & texture that I had hoped for.

When I was growing up one of my favorite things to do was to look through model homes with my Mom & Sister. I was a weird kid..what can I say? We were one of the first neighborhoods built in our area, so as new neighborhoods were being built, we would drive around town visiting all of them. My parents were never interested in buying a new house, we just liked to pretend. My Sister and I would even argue over who would get which bedroom. We're a little crazy..I know this. My Mom and I continued doing this even after I had moved out of the house. When I would visit, we would go to a new neighborhood and walk through the model homes.. telling the realtors "we're just looking". They probably hated us. Tee-hee.

I promise there's a point to this story.. the SMELL of these brand new homes. Ahhh, the smell. It smelled clean, it smelled like paint, and they all just had this same distinct, wonderful smell. Yet, here I am, in my first home, built in the early 1960's. It soooo did not have that smell. BUT dear readers.. I'm here to tell you that great smell you get from a model home, is actually from the new CARPET. I HAVE THE SMELL.. in my old house.

Just like the new car smell, my new carpet smell will fade away ::tear:: .. but for now I'm going to enjoy it. If you actually read this whole post about my love for the smell of a model home.. you get this:

Oooo... fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Another great smell. :)

News Flash!!!

We have carpet!!! Halle-freakin'-lujah. I'm excited about this.. can't you tell? :)

I'm mostly just excited at the fact that we are thisclose to having our house renovations DONE. As of last night all three bedrooms had crown moulding installed and paint on the walls. YESSSSSSS.

The carpet was installed today & Dan just emailed me these 3 pics:

guest bedroom:

Office/future nursery:

Master bedroom:

Those aren't the greatest pics since the point of them is just the carpet, so I'll be sure to get some better "after" pics taken. I still have to find window treatments, get everything moved back into the bedrooms, paint the guest bedroom furniture, and add new pulls for the guest bedroom dresser. Oh, and we're painting and installing new doors this weekend.

Sooooo, not done yet.. but so close. Yippeeeee!!

Foodie Friday: a Paris kind of picnic

Last night we had a not so normal dinner..

A french baguette, sharp cheddar, havarti, salami, prosciutto, capicola, dijon mustard.. and of course, red wine. drooooool.

It instantly brought us back to our favorite spot in Paris.. and really the only reason I would ever go back to Paris again: the Jardin du Luxembourg. sigh.

It's a dreamy park, where kids ride donkeys..

Or rent wooden boats and sticks from a stand.. and then push them around a huge fountain..

The patience these kids have is unreal. They literally stand at the edge of the fountain, watching their boat sail around until it eventually drifts back to them.. and then they push it back out with their stick, and do it all over again.

The place is just beautiful.. and it makes you feel like you're in another era. But back to the point.. FOOD!

Dan & I went to a cute little market a block away from the park, and picked up some food to have a picnic in the park..

& let me tell you.. those blackberries were THE best berries I've ever had. The bread was delicious, the cheese was creamy, and we got a big kick out of using a wooden knife to cut everything.

So, last night as we ate our dinner & drank our wine, we reminisced about the Jardin du Luxembourg and wished we were sitting on that park bench again.

Definitely a meal we'll remember forever..

Thankful Thursday

UGH.. what.a.week. Seriously, I think this house renovation is going to be the death of me. We had to push back the installation of our carpet until next Wednesday because we came to the realization that there was no way we could finish everything in time.

Our house looks like a bomb went off, our cat (who was kicked to the garage) has decided she likes to escape & get up on the roof every time I start the dryer, we're sleeping in the living room, and it's SO effin' hot in San Diego this week.

All of this has meant not enough sleep for me, so I've been suuuuper cranky and irritable all week. But this is Thankful Thursday, not Whiney Wednesday, right? Right.

My visit with my BFF over the weekend was great. We went to the beach, had tapas and drinks out, and went shopping on Sunday. Tons of girlie time that I needed.

So, today I'm thankful for my friends.. my bestie, my sister, and all the other great women that I have in my life.

Here's a pic of me and my girls.. We've all been friends since High School. My BFF, Traci, is the brunette in the purple.. I'm the blonde in the purple. :)

Everything BUT foodie Friday

I'm skipping Foodie Friday this week because I just have WAY too much going on this week to even be concerned with food, and I have a couple updates to share instead.

I'll start with the bad news. My baseline u/s was this morning and it turns out I have a huge cyst, which is basically the aftermath of my chemical pregnancy. boo. So, now the plan is to get on birth control for the next couple weeks, and hopefully that will shrink it.

I stop my last pill on Labor Day, and my next u/s is on September 10th. Fingers & toes crossed that we can start our 4th IUI cycle then. Now, someone remind me how to use b.c again.. it's been about 3 years since I've taken it!

That's the bad news, and here's the good news.. Check out my new ride!!

Isn't it cute??!! Oh wait.. NOT cute.. Dan doesn't approve of me using that word to describe a car he'll sometimes drive. It's AWESOME. It's a 2010 Rav4, and we're leasing it. We traded Dan's Jeep in for it and while our payments are only a couple bucks less than the Jeep's, we're going to save A LOT of money in gas each month. And we have 2 years free maintenance.. which even includes oil changes. Score!

It surprisingly has lots of power, and lots of room.. I've only had it less than 24 hours, but I'm already in love with it.

So, between a new car and the fact that in about 7 hours I'll be sitting in the backyard, drinking a huge glass of wine, laughing & catching up with my bestie, this is day is not so sucky.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!