#2,066 Wait Until + Evening Walk.

Today I got a letter in the mail from Lisa, who knows all about my anxieties about aging. Honestly, Ben’s elaborate month-long birthday plan is 100% working and instead of dreading August 30, I feel like I’ve waded into it already and I feel excited about life every morning I get to wake up. Lisa’s words were the chorus to his surprises and a balm for me:

Now, isn’t that the truth? Let’s not be the “wait until” people, y’all.

And the sky on tonight’s walk stopped me in my tracks. No filter here. Just late summer magic.

Also, just for Talia, I’ll share my take on the Ranch Stew recipe here tonight. Hopefully Annalee will forgive me! It’ll be so much easier for me in the future when I’m shopping for the groceries to just search it here on my blog, too. I hope you’ll save it—it’s seriously one of the best soups. Similar to taco soup, but much better and heartier.

Ranch Stew (makes a whole crock pot, serves around 12, freezes well)

Ingredients:
2 lbs. ground chuck (I like the even leaner ground round) 
2 green bell peppers, diced
2 yellow onions, diced
2 large (28 oz.) cans of diced tomatoes
3 cans white shoe peg corn
1 can kidney beans 
2 cloves of fresh minced garlic
2 tablespoons of sugar (magic ingredient)
3 tsp. chili powder
sour cream
extra sharp cheddar


Brown the meat and drain. Add onions, garlic and bell peppers and cook until tender. Stir this and all the other ingredients into a crock pot and cook on high for 3-4 hours. Serve with cheese and sour cream and Erin’s cornbread recipe.