Oh, Internet... {64}

I'm posting this late, I know, but I still wanted to share with you some of my favorite things that happened on the internet this week!

I honestly don't think we should be giving people like Rob Bell the publicity that comes by talking about them, but Carrots for Michaelmas has written the best commentary I've read so far on the "controversy" of his comments.

Here is a great video about why porn is bad for you.  And yes, that's Russel Brand.  Yes, that Russel Brand.

The Killer B. Designs blog shared an awesome tutorial for a kids' activity table that has me itching to get my hands on some woodworking tools...

Better than Eden shared a delicious-looking recipe for homemade whole wheat sandwich bread that I'd like to try to make soon!

Miss Hammerhead is the newest blogger Bee over on Weddingbee and she sounds pretty awesome.  Go say hi!

I totally saw the dress as white with gold lace.  My life is a lie.

Jimmy Kimmel made a PSA about vaccinating your kids.

I cannot reasonably spend $90 on a new swimsuit, but if I could, I'd buy this one.

What are the coolest things you saw on the internet this week?

Much love,
The Geeks

Wordless Wednesday: Endless Winter

bundling up // *personal photo*

Much love,
The Geeks

Culinary Adventures: Pasta e Fagioli

Little Miss Chief is officially A Toddler now, which means that she's officially A Picky Eater.  Foods that she would eagerly devour just 6 months ago receive a violent head shake when they are offered to her now.

One food she doesn't reject?  "BEE!"   (Beans.)

She really, really enjoyed the black bean soup I made last month so I hoped she'd like this white bean soup recipe.  Thankfully, she loved it!

*personal photo*

Pasta e Fagioli
adapted from Jeff Mauro

-5 slices thick-cut bacon, sliced into lardons
-1 yellow onion, diced
-1/4 tsp dried oregano
-1/4 tsp dried basil
-1/2 tsp dried parsley
-1/2 tsp dried minced garlic
-1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
-1/4 C white wine
-1 1/2 C chicken stock
-1 1/2 C water
-2 15oz cans cannellini beans
-1 15oz can tomato puree
-1 C ditalini pasta
-1 C grated parmesan cheese

-Cook the bacon in a dutch oven until it's crisp and your kitchen smells divine.  You'll know it's ready when your husband and daughter start wandering towards the stove and wondering when dinner will be ready.  Remove the crisp bacon to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.

-Add the onion, herbs, spices, and some salt to the bacon fat and stir until the onion is translucent but before it starts to brown (8-10 minutes).  Deglaze the pot with some wine and scrape up all the brown bits off the bottom; bring to a simmer.

-Pour in the chicken stock, water, beans, and tomato puree.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.  Let it bubble and thicken for about 30 minutes.

-For a thicker stew-like consistency, buzz the pot with an immersion blender for 30 seconds or so.  Or you could skip that step for a more liquid, soupy consistency.

-Add the pasta and cook until it's done, about 10 minutes.  Stir in the bacon and the cheese.

-Serve with another sprinkle of cheese on top and enjoy!

What kind of soups and stews are you making to keep warm in this endless winter?

Much love,
The Geeks

Oh, Internet: Lent Edition

Happy (?) Ash Wednesday, everyone!

Lent is a season that's really hard to wrap your head around- or maybe it's that we over-think it.  Lucky for me (and therefore you), there are a ton of great Catholic bloggers out there who have contributed their thoughts and ideas on how to have a successful, holy Lent.  Remember, Lent is not a diet- in fact, as our priest reminded us this weekend, if you treat it like a dieting challenge with the intention of losing weight, you could actually be adding to your own pride and therefore defeating the purpose of Lent altogether.

So check out these handy resources if you're struggling with how to handle these next 40-some-odd-days!

Start here for a historical look at Lent and a discussion of the whole Sunday thing:

"LET US KEEP THE FAST?" WHAT TO DO ABOUT SUNDAYS DURING LENT at Daniel Bearman

On choosing a Lenten penance:

SACRIFICE ALL THE THINGS: THE LOSER'S GUIDE TO WINNING LENT at The Catholic Table

OUTSIDE THE BOX: 66 THINGS TO GIVE UP OR TAKE UP FOR LENT at Catholic All Year

"When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites":

CELEBRATING BIRTHDAYS THAT FALL DURING LENT? at Catholic All Year

On feasting when you're supposed to feast:

LENT IS HARD TO DO AND OTHER EARTH SHATTERING INSIGHTS FOR LAETARE SUNDAY at Catholic All Year

On observing Lent with your little ones:

9 IDEAS FOR OBSERVING LENT WITH KIDS at Carrots for Michaelmas

Did you see that the USCCB is having a giveaway today?  Share your #ashtag selfie!

via USCCB

Wordless Wednesday: Action

The Mad Tea Party // *personal photo*

Today, I'm linking up over at Focused on the Magic for the Wordless Wednesday blog hop!  Today's theme is Action.  Click the button below to join in on the blog hop!

Much love,
The Geeks

Crafting Adventures: Decoupaged Letters

this meme will never get old

So...last week I shared a tutorial for the St. Valentine's Day wreath I made for the house, and in that post, I promised that I'd share another St. Valentine's Day craft project...and then St. Valentine's Day came...and then it went...and still no second post.

On the plus side, though, this tutorial isn't solely a St. Valentine's Day thing.

It's also not a totally original thing- in fact, I followed a tutorial I found on someone else's blog.

So why don't you head on over to Craft Apple to see how I turned this:

*personal photo*

into this:

also check out those adorable cards for our little Valentine from her grandparents! // *personal photo*

Hope you had a romantic weekend!

Much love,
The Geeks

Crafting Adventures: No-Sew Valentine's Day Fabric Wreath

I don't know what came over me, but a few weeks ago I got it into my head that I wanted to make a couple of simple bits of decoration for Valentine's Day, to liven up the house a bit in this dreary state of sorta-winter-but-definitely-not-yet-spring.  Actually, I originally only had one project in mind, but something about craft supply stores just makes me feel so hopeful, so I walked out with the supplies for this project, too.  I mean, I have loads of free time, right?  I could switch up the decor in here once a month with Pinterest-worthy crafts on every surface.

Yeah, no.

But I do have two projects to share with you this week that you can complete in the span of one weekend (or much less if you don't have a toddler).

Fabric-wrapped wreaths are pretty self-explanatory, and disassembled faux flowers have been all over the wedding blogosphere for years, so I won't pretend that this is an entirely new or original project.  Even so, I've included a brief step-by-step below of how I went about putting my wreath together, if you'd like to give it a shot.  I bought 3/4 of a yard of this pink fabric with white hearts, but I had quite a bit left over- I probably used 1/2 a yard or less with my 12" foam wreath.  Next time I make a wreath, I'll probably use a bigger base...

Supplies:
-small selection of faux flowers
-1/2 yard of fabric
-fabric shears
-short flat-head straight pins
-12" foam wreath
-decorative straight pins (these have little gold spheres on the end)
-pliers

Time to complete: less than 1 naptime (She slept for about an hour and a half this particular Saturday afternoon, and I had time to do this project and a load of laundry!)

-Cut your fabric into strips.  I went with 2" strips, but you may want to go bigger or smaller, depending on the print of your fabric- but probably no bigger than 3", otherwise wrapping it around the wreath frame may become difficult.

-Secure the end of one strip of fabric with one of the tiny straight pins.  You'll want to be sure that your pins are short enough that they don't poke through the other side.  (Or that your wreath is thick enough for the length of your pins.  Whichever variable you can control, based on the stock in your friendly neighborhood craft supply store.)  Wrap the fabric around the wreath, overlapping as you go- I tried to overlap at about the middle of each layer of fabric.

-When you reach the end of a strip of fabric, secure it with another pin and start with the next strip.  Keep wrapping until you've covered the entire wreath.

-Using your pliers, pull apart your faux flowers.  They generally consist of a plastic stamen, layers of petals, greenery, a wire stem, plastic bits that hold them all together, and some sort of rubber overlay for the stem.  Be careful not to damage the petals as you pull everything apart.

-Stack the layers of petals on top of each other and stick one of the decorative pins through the hole in the center to secure the flower to the wreath- again being mindful of the length of your pin relative to the thickness of the wreath.  Experiment with the placement of your petals and the number of layers you use to achieve the look you're going for.

-I used three flowers for this wreath, as well as two sets of leaves.  My faux flower bouquet featured some little sprigs of plastic baby's breath, so I interspersed them among the fabric flowers to fill any gaps.  We've never had a wreath hanging on our front door, but it's really welcoming and makes you smile after a long day at work.  And this was so easy that I just may make a new one every month!

Are you a wreath person?  Do you make them or buy them?  What's your go-to wreath tutorial?

Much love,
The Geeks

Oh, Internet... {63}

Yeah, I'm doing two of these this week :D  But there was just so much awesome on the internet that I want to share with you!!

Catholic All Year talks about why it's okay to read Harry Potter as a Christian (not that you needed to be convinced)

Oh, Joy! made funfetti cookies!

A DIY Guess Who board game?  Whaaaaat?  I need to make one of these...

A Pinch of Pixie Dust took us to A Bug's Land in Disneyland- yet another reason why I want to go check it out...

Penga at Sakacon, aka Mrs Sewing on Weddingbee, is PREGNANT!  Go wish her congratulations!!  (Side note: she's the reason I started reading and eventually applied for Weddingbee.  She's awesome.)

Jamie at Petite Panoply looks adorable in this red dress.  (Side note: I need to get me that red dress...)

What awesomeness happened on your internet this week?

Much love,
The Geeks

Wordless Wednesday: Reading

Reading "Love You Forever" // *personal photo*

Much love,
The Geeks

Oh, Internet... {62}

Soooo like I said earlier, that whole link-up thing was awkward.  So let's pretend like it didn't happen.

Lots of other awesome things did happen on the internet last week, though, so let's talk about them!

In Honor of Design shared these delicious looking sesame chicken potstickers!

Haley at Carrots for Michaelmas shared a very helpful guide to liturgical living this February.

...and her husband, Daniel Bearman, shared a beautiful reflection on how the Devil underestimates love.

Catholic All Year shared a great reflection on giving her children (lots of) responsibilities.  (For the record, no, we're not pregnant with kid #2 yet.  I just like to research.)

Lauren at Fizz and Frosting shared a big change that's coming for her family.  I completely understand her conflicted feelings; I would probably feel the same way if I were ever lucky enough to be able to make such a decision, and I would make the same choice she made.  (And I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little envious of her situation.)  Go read her post and give her some love!

Olivia at To the Heights shared 50 things to do on Valentine's Day instead of seeing "Fifty Shades of Grey".  Healthy, respectful relationships FTW!

So what were your favorite things on the internet last week?

Much love,
The Geeks

Let's...Not Have a Chat?

Soooooo I guess y'all don't like link-ups?

Because exactly 0 people added a post to my link-up this weekend.

It's cool!  No big deal!  Just...no more link-ups around here.  Or at least not for now.

So...what would you like to see around here?  I really want to interact with you, my readers (both of you, as the third one is my mom.  Hi, Mom!) so please, let me know in the comments- how can we communicate better?

I'll lift the curtain here a little bit and give you a peak at my plans for this year on the blog.  I wanted to start with the link-up, then later in the year, do a giveaway, then start advertising on other blogs...

...maybe I'll have to re-evaluate that plan a little bit?

Seriously, let me know your thoughts!

Much love,
The Geeks