erica danielle

Today I ran and ran all day at the hotel. It was wonderful. I was busy. Life was moving at a fast pace. Last night I went to a PIM banquet and listened to Pastor Judy tell stories that made me cry, and said things that my ears needed to hear. I have a new outlook on life, and moving at a fast pace after last night. Judy said there are so many dates circled on our life calendar, and we are all looking forward to that circle- we miss all the dates in between. I am guilty of this. Right now I can't wait for Summer. Lately my thoughts seem to say- 'life will be easier in the summer, I will be 5 lbs lighter and tan in the summer, Sten won't be in school in the summer, we are going on vacation in the summer, ravina is in the summer, bike rides are in the summer....' What about now? What am I missing out on now? I am on a quest to live in the moment.... Don't know exactly how I am going to go about this, but I'm going to try real hard with a couple tips from Judy. Sl...

I have a lot to look forward to this weekend. Not only do I get to run 13.1 miles with my dearest friend on Sunday, I get to see my Grandma, mom, cousins, aunts, uncles, sister and brother-in-law on Saturday. So many wonderful people in one small little town! Emily and I are trying to decide what to wear and we just enlisted Sten to come up with our slogan because he is so witty! Speaking of Sten-- he made me dinner tonight! I know, you should be jealous- look how cute he is. He made honey bbq meatloaf , salad with strawberries, feta and candied almonds and veggies. I am a very lucky lady. I am obsessed with this new blog. It is very inspirational- and is chalk full of beautiful pictures and yummy recipes. I love looking at other peoples blogs. Check out Anne's awesome blog, she does beautiful art and I want to buy one of her water colors to spruce up our home. My friend Andrew told me in order to stick out in the blogging world I should start video-blogging. It's going to...

Megan made these ADORABLE chick cupcakes from Martha Stewart. Sten and I all bundled up for our first Cubs game of the season. Old fashioned egg dying. I don't know if you could call that beautiful or not? This egg is special! We wrapped certain eggs in silk ties and then boiled them in vinegar water. The imprint of the fabric transferred onto the egg. Peter's turned out the best :) Phew! What a whirlwind of a week! But a very good one, none the less. We were able to do so many fun things, it reminds me why I love living in the city. On Tuesday Sten and I went to Pizza Arte Cafe. What a hidden gem! It's a BYOB Italian joint right off the Rockwell stop. We had the time of our lives, tasting delicious food and talking about our day. We decided going out on a Tuesday made us feel way more adventurous then it should have. We have been stuck in this rut where we don't do anything during the week- but really... who said you can't go out on a Tuesday night? We broke some ...

I have a few minutes before Sten gets home from class. Its relatively quiet in the apartment, besides the frequent sirens and the trucks that shake our building. I've turned off the music... Sometimes you just need a little quiet. I need more of that as I find out things about myself. I always thought I was an extravert, but as time goes on I am realizing time alone gives me much needed energy. I am really going to try to use my alone time for good this week. Being intentional about what I do when I have a quiet moment to myself. I can't wait to see Sten. I made panko bread crumb crusted parmesan tilapia, roasted cauliflower and mashed potatoes for dinner. It's going to be a very white plate... with red wine to go with. The perfect end to a Monday. xoxo. edc

This is from our first Easter together. I made Sten dye eggs with me. I thought this was normal, until I realized boys really have NO interest in dying eggs. It was a great weekend. Some highlights include: - byob (Simply It) with Joel and Megan - Spring clean in apt. #302. - 7 loads of laundry clean, folded and put away. - A trip to Goodwill. - Saturday night in Geneva - Sunday morning watching Sten lead worship at Batavia. Always gives me chills when I see him up there singing with his guitar- he is SO handsome. - Egg Harbor and great chats with my beautiful Mother-in-law - Grocery store run to re-stock the cupboards - Hand and Foot and a great dinner with friends. Being in Geneva with Meredith was so nice. I love having girl chats with her. There are always so many laughs especially when Sten starts telling stories. I hope I have the same love for my children as Meredith so evidently has for hers. It's Holy week and I hope I can remember that this week as I go along and throug...

GOOD MORNING SATURDAY! My tattered, well-loved recipe Some really ripe banana's Mini chocolate chips.... (and my manicured pink finger nails) Heavenly! Good morning! This Saturday was much needed. I have worked 12 days straight... enough said. Its been a great morning so far. I slept in and woke up with some renewed energy- to BLOG! :) I wanted to share my very favorite recipe with you-- and maybe you can make these tomorrow for an after church Brunch! My favorite thing about this recipe is you only need one bowl. For someone without a dishwasher, that's a pretty big deal. The other great thing about it, is that you don't need eggs! How many times on a Saturday morning do you want to make pancakes, but you're out of eggs?? Well, now your problem is solved. Here's the recipe. Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins From: Mama Print Yield 20 muffins 350 degrees 17-20 mins 1/2 Cup Butter or Marg 1 Cup Sugar 2 Bananas (ripe and ma...

I get all bottled up on blogging when I have a little time-- so here's another one. Today was one of those, 'i am so anxious because it is beautiful outside and all i want to do is bask in the sunshine all day and i am stuck inside' kind of days. It was 85 degrees out! I worked until noon and then ran home from work. It was really great. It ended up being 10.9 miles, but let me tell you, even if I wasn't training for a half marathon, I would still want to do that today. Lake shore was bursting with people-- bikers, walkers, rollerbladers, skateboarders, slow joggers, fast runners, baby's and their mamma's, pregnant women, girls in bikinis, guys with extremely white chests and no shirts on.... it definitely made the run go by so much faster with all the great people-watching I was able to do. When I got home I was so excited to be with Sten outside... we got starbucks (iced coffee with 2 pumps white mocha for him, and iced passion tea for me) and went for a long...