Today was a very productive Saturday. Yardwork, finally. Housecleaning, cooking to prepare for Sunday Dinner tomorrow. Went to IKEA and bought some bookshelves for our office.

I can't go there without a sentimental thought of our Swedes--Thomas, Lotta, Tiffany, and Frida. They're our dear friends in Gothenburg--we've been twice. The food section, in particular breeds thoughts of them: ligonberry jam, princess cake, pepparkakor, Bilar (Cars)--my favorite candy.

Swedish decor is homey, simple, wonderful. Lighting is so much more dramatic there--not so much overhead lighting, like in the U.S. They have tealights everywhere, LOTS of candles. An overhead light is rarely turned on. Table lamps, floor lamps, and more candles. The lighting makes it magical, especially at Christmas, it's even more so......I could learn alot from a Swede!

I'm making my family's (Uncle Roy and Nana) famous spaghetti sauce for the first time. I hope I don't disappoint. Russ and I are hosting a Sunday Dinner for our friends (it's a thing we do,but not regularly). I decided to whip up a batch of the best spaghetti sauce ever and have my friends over to make my Nana proud. In my eyes, Nana was famous for her cooking. Some of my favorites are: Spaghetti, Chicken and Dumplin's, Chocolate Pie, Cherry Pie, homeade biscuits, biscuits and gravy, banana nut cake (she would save me the extra icing), chocolate sheet cake, and oatmeal--why did it always taste better at Nana's?

I have HIGH expectations for this dinner tomorrow. I hope it goes well and everyone thinks it's as delish as Nana's.

Bookshelves are put together and safety-strapped to wall. Russ is working on getting things in all these shelves I see. Looking alright so far.

I'm trying to find a focus for this blog--it covers alot of ground and it's pretty boring, I think. Riley? Cooking? Does there have to be a focus? Photography? Home? Family? Am I ADD?

Things I should do more often:

Take pictures of daily things--food, places we go, things in our home
Floss
Bake a dessert
Go on evening walks
Turn off the television
Read
Pray

I'm a Mommy now and so many fun things happen on a daily basis--things I'd love remember and things I'm sure I'll want forget. Maybe a blog is a great way for me to keep track of our goings on and thoughts.

Today was a stay home day with Riley. He didn't sleep so well from 4-6, so he slept in this morning. I had a cup of coffee without sheilding it from him! What a treat. I had some quiet, alone time this morning.

This afternoon Mom, Gary, and Nana came over. Riley reached for Mom as I was bringing him downstairs and gave her a hug--made her day! He always goes straight for Gary (Gary responds to Riley's every whim) and will hardly step away from him. Before Nana left, Riley reached for her. What a wonderful moment for us all. Nana is 89 and had stroke in February. She is doing well now, considering. She's so different now, I wonder if it's hard for her to remember the things she used to do. She's thin now too.....I was so used to my "chubby" Nana. I love her either way.

We enjoyed their visit. No pics of it, though. Why did I do that?