Thank you Jesus for good food.
Thank you for beautiful weather and quality time with friends.
Thanks you Jesus for family.
Thank you for cousins.
Thank you for bunny ears.
Thank you for belly buttons,
pony tails,
kissable cheeks, beautiful blue eyes,
and toes.
But most of all, thank you for the most amazing gift.
A gift I don't deserve, but one I accept with my heart wide open.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I know I am a little late to the party, but a few days ago I added the Stitcher app to my phone. Stitcher is a way to listen to all of your favorite podcasts without downloading them to your phone, iPod, etc.
I have been listening on my drive to work, and at times during work, depending on what I am doing.
I love it. I feel it is a way to stay current and listen to interesting facts, as an alternative to watching the news. I also like the background noise in my quiet office.
Here are my favorite podcasts so far.
Do you have any to recommend? I would like to listen to one about family / parenting, but when I typed that in the search bar the results were overwhelming.
Breakfast - hardboiled eggs with toast and an unpictured grapefruit.
Lunch - leftover enchiladas with some unpictured angel food cake
Dinner- Dan and I decided to protest the snow and grill.
It was cold,
but oh so worth it. Grilled chicken with roasted green beans and some box stuffing.
Ina Mae helped make the stuffing.
Guess who has two thumbs and slept in today?
For no particular reason, other than I felt completely exhausted. I have a feeling that we are going to have a family Jillian Michaels workout tonight. I bet Dan can't wait for that!
I work almost all day and night on Mondays, so unless dinner is planned, we having to grab something. Yesterday when Dan and I were discussing what to have for dinner, he said something about Greek.
I looked over at Abby and asked if she wanted a gyro. She gave me a blank look and asked, "What's a gyro?"
I almost fainted.
As not tasting a gyro is a crime against humanity, I told Dan to bring us some gyros ASAP.
We tried a new place in Kansas City - Never on Sunday. They were delsih.
Breakfast was blueberry walnut overnight oats.
Lunch was a leftover balsmic beef sandwich with baked potato.
Snacks - clementine, carrots, a mini bag of popcorn
I treadmilled-it for 3 miles. I am thinking this is my happy distance for the time being. Realistically I won't be able to spend much more than 30 minutes on the treadmill most days of the week, so if I want to go further I better get to going a little faster.
Remember when I wore shorts and walked outside and said Spring had sprung?
God laughed at me and said, "not yet darling."
Ugh. I really do love living in the Midwest because of all 4 seasons, but I am ready for the next one.
I think I am particularly upset about the snow because it ruined some plans I had, but that didn't stop me from having a great - mostly indoor- weekend.
Friday night our friends Brad and Chessa came over to watch a little March madness and enjoy some Mi Publitos.
Saturday, right before the snow came, I ran a super hilly, super windy, super sucky 7 out of 9 of Kim's training plan miles. I am sure glad that Kim is training for a half, or else I have a feeling those miles wouldn't have happened.
After that run I wanted to stay in bed for the rest of the day, but I perservered and went to a high school friend's baby shower.
Ina rocked out her dalmatian outfit and it was so lovely to see so many of my friends that I hadn't seen in ages.
After the shower a few of my friends followed me home, Dan made chili, and we finished our Newsroom marathon. Does anyone else want to come over to our house and start watching that show, because I need an excuse to watch it for the 4th time.
Sunday church was cancelled, so we stayed in, completed a few house projects,
(Don't worry, the mirror is still on the ground.)
took some naps,
and did some standing
and falling.
Then Dan's family came over and we enjoyed some enchiladas, rice, beans,
and dessert.
Oh the dessert.
The beautiful girl in the red is quite the little baker.
Then my butt was officially kicked at Sequence.
However, Ina loved it. The second Stacie put the cards in front of her she was so excited and concentrated on them so hard. I loved it, although I shouldn't be surprised. With my love for cards and games, that girl just doesn't have a chance.
I hope you had just as lovely of a weekend!
One of the benefits of being a crazy weirdo who keeps the camera in the kitchen at all times is being able to capture moments like this:
This is now my absolute new favorite picture. I was mixing some corn bread mix for lunch, handed Ina a measuring cup, and my heart melted when she smiled.
Oh Ina, there aren't many things I want to force upon you, but I sure hope you share my love for cooking. Or at least love to hang out in the kitchen when I cook, so we can spend some quality time together.
The cornbread was a side for the chicken chili that I took out of the freezer a few days ago.
I feel like I was missing out on the biggest secret in the world not knowing that things like chili could be frozen until you want to eat them.
I think I need a bigger freezer.
Breakfast - overnight oats with walnuts, blueberries, and a little strawberry jam.
Dinner was slow cooker balsmic beef (following *this recipe*with baked potatoes
and Blue Bell for dessert.
It looks like someone needs to go to the store, because my pictures are missing the color green.
G (my mom's name for grandma) came over for a little visit and held Ina during dinner.
It was so nice to have her sitting at the table with us. Something else that is nice? I put Ina to bed in her crib at 9 PM. I woke up in a panic at 5:45 AM thinking someone must have stole my baby, but when I went to check on her she was sleeping soundly. I don't want to jinx it, but it seems the transition from our room to the crib is going smoothly.
Yesterday was a rest day, and boy did I need it after Wednesday's JM video.
Last night we re-started our weekly dinners with Courtney's family. We headed over to her house with guacamole in hand.
Eric made the margaritas. Dan made Ina's mohawk.
One of Dan's favorite things to do is lick Ina's hair into a mohawk. I keep telling him that she is going to have a cowlick in the back of her head if he doesn't stop. However, I think this is the cutest mohawk I have ever seen.
It has been a long time since I have had a margarita and this was delish. Even better were the shrimp tacos that Courtney made. I think I need her recipe.
Breakfast was a to-go peanut butter and banana sandwich with a HOT cup of coffee to wash it down.
Lunch was leftover beef stir fry. Snacks - mango, kiwi, snap peas, and carrots.
Another Ripped in 30 day. Dan came downstairs while I was in the middle of the first strength set and just starred at me in shock. He didn't think workout videos could be that serious. I told him that Jillian Michaels was a far stretch from Richard Simmons. (Although I do LOVE Richard Simmons and used to sweat to the oldies with my mom and siblings all the time!)
