Friday

Via

 

This weekend is going to be a busy one.

Alexxa's birthday was this past week,

and we couldn't celebrate because we had to work.

So this weekend is going to be about her.

 

Apparently her wish is to go kayaking, to a movie

and have steak salad with strawberry shortcake.

Then, the owners of the gym we go to

invited us to their beginning of summer party.

My parents have also invited Lexx up

for a homemade meal on Sunday.

 

As you can tell, we aren't lacking for things to do.

 

So is your family going crazy this time of year?

At least we don't have several graduations to attend.

 

 

Beware

The kids are home from college for a bit.

 Todd and I got a phone call last Saturday

asking if we could drive home Austin's car home.

Apparently, he hasn't quite perfected the stick shift.

 

So Todd and I came to the rescue.

When we pulled up, this is the first thing we saw.

 

Can't quite read it?

Here it is a little bigger.

 

Alexxa decided to make a sign for Austin.

She didn't want anyone getting hurt

while he was driving.

 

Siblings...

gotta love them.

Memorial Day Hike

We decided not to go kayaking this last weekend

and instead went on a hike.

Lexx and I hiked 4 miles, until the heat got to us.

Todd and Aust hiked about 8 miles.

 

We left out around noon, on the beautiful

HOT sunny day.

 

The scenery was beautiful,

but the heat made it difficult to enjoy.

 

You have never seen anyone so happy to see water.

I knew that I was only abut half way through the

hike when we made it to the creek.

I was so tempted to lay down in it and cool off.

 

Lexx had fun with the dandelion.

 

When we got about 1/2 mile from our destination,

a life flight helicopter landed right in front of us.

 

It wasn't surprising that someone was getting life flighted out.

As soon as this helicopter left,

another one was behind it

(either that or the same one had to come back

and get someone else).

 

It was literally right above us,

and one of the occupants was waving at us.

 

So that was our excitement for the day.

 

We came back home and had a barbecue,

took showers, watched movies and went to bed.

 

It was a pretty eventful day.

 

What did you do for Memorial Day?

Friday Brain Dump

I have some random things to share.

This is what Friday brain 

looks like, so try to follow along.

Look, tomatoes!

And peas!  

Growing sideways you ask -

well duh...

no.

I can't figure out how to turn the !*$# picture the right way.

Look at the little yard decoration.

He's so goofy and colorful.

He makes me smile.

Doesn't this ground cover look pretty.

I love how it cascades down the rocks.

My orange flower seems to glow.

No photoshop here people...

Just beautiful naturally vibrant colors.

So we don't have much planned for Memorial Day.

Possibly might go kayaking,

but the forecast calls for lightning, so if that's the case

we'll be staying at home watching the tube.

Have a great weekend,

and don't forget to thank a soldier for their service.

XO~

B

Guess What?

We (meaning Todd) managed to get pictures

from our trip off the good camera!

Turns out that the usb port was bad,

so he bought me an adapter and..

voila!

I'm so super duper excited.

We have several good ones, but I'll just

share some of my favorites from the trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let's hope I don't have any more trouble with my camera.

I love the pictures from it.

A little better than the ones of the cell phone...

don't you think?

 

 

 

 

Smile

It's Friday!

Via

 

Have a great weekend.

 

Working It Out

Via

 

I'm in the orange category.

 

As you know I've been doing a dumb diet.

It's been about two months and I've lost about 10-12 pounds.

I got frustrated because I plateaued at 10ish pounds

(of course it couldn't have anything to do with

the fact that I don't really want to stop

eating yummy food!)

 

So Todd and I caved and bought a gym membership.

So far we have worked out 3 days out of 3 days planned.

Here's the thing,

I really kind of like it.

I definitely feel better after working out,

and in just 3 days I've been able to bump

up weights in my circuits anywhere from 10-20 pounds.

Plus, theoretically, if I work out enough

I can eat more of the foods I like

(I'm just not there yet).

 

So why am I telling you this?

Because you might see a little less of me on here,

or possibly the posts may be added later in the evening.

I haven't quite figured out the logistics yet.

Rest assured, however, that I will still be

posting during the week.

 

Are you working out?

If so, what is your favorite exercise?

 

 

Mother's Day

I hope all my mom friends out there had a wonderful day.

As always, I was spoiled rotten, 

and my kids don't even live here any more.

They showed me the love by posting a wonderful

message on Facebook for me, and emailing me.

So thoughtful!

Todd took me out to a brunch buffet, 

with flowers, chocolate and specialty cupcakes included.

Then Todd helped his mom out for a few hours,

and I got to have some "me" time.

What did I do you ask?

Well...cleaned my dresser, did a load of laundry,

surfed the net for a dress for a wedding Lexx is in,

and that's about it.

Playing on the computer.

When evening rolled around, Anne (Todd's mother),

wanted to eat at Sizzler, so we all headed down to 

enjoy a good hardy meal - and one we didn't have to cook at that!

We at too much, of course, and talked, 

and when it started to get dark, we all headed home.

Soon to be sister-in-law Amber, me, mother-in-law Anne.

(I'll have you know I was practically laying down 

so we could all fit in the picture!)

Todd and Anne

It was such a nice relaxing day.

The only thing that was missing was my mom.

Miss you Mom!

She is out of town, so we are going to have

 to celebrate when she returns.

So what did you do for Mother's Day?

Coffee...

Via

 

Enough said.

I'm getting me one of these for the weekend!

 

Unbelievable Tattoos

Okay, let me start off by saying I'm

not a huge tattoo fan.

I thought about getting a small tattoo of a dolphin

on my hip when I was 18, but decided against it and

instead got my ears pierced three times.

(I'm so glad I didn't because that dolphin

would have turned into a whale).

 

With that being said I think

the following tats are amazing.

Some are truly a work of art.

See what you think.

 

All tattoo pictures from here.

 

 

 

 

This one is my personal favorite.

 

So what do you think?

Do you like any of them?

If so, which one is your favorite?

Strawberry Jam

Did you guess what it was that Lexx and I made?

No - here is another clue...

 

 

We took a little time two Saturdays ago and

made homemade strawberry jam.

 

I had tried making it about a year ago

with pectin, and it was a disaster.

So I asked one of my coworkers who

makes homemade jam regularly

what recipe she used.

She directed me to

Martha Stewart's website,

but said that she modified the recipe

and made it very simple.

I thought I would share the recipe I used,

and if you wanted to go to Martha's website

you could do that as well.

 

Ingredients

 

6 cups halved strawberries

3 cups sugar

1/2 a lemon

 

Take strawberries, sugar, and juice from half a lemon

and combine in a large non reactive pot

and cook over medium heat.

Stir with a wooden spoon until

ingredients are mixed together.

 

 

Then take a potato masher (or whatever works for you)

and mush down the strawberries .

Cook for about 5 minutes.

Mixture should start to boil.

At this point you want to stir pretty consistently.

 

 

The mixture should turn from bright red to deep red.

This takes between 15-20 minutes

and the mixture will thicken.  If you

have a candy thermometer, the temperature

should register around 220 degrees.

If you are unsure if your mixture is done,

you can do a gel test.

I take a spoon that I placed in the freezer

and scoop the mixture in the spoon. 

If the mixture sticks to the spoon,

your jam should be done.

 

When the mixture is ready,

poor it into the jars and seal and then

give them a water bath.

 

And TADA

homemade strawberry jam.

 

You should make it - it's delicious!

May the Fourth

 

So did you do anything exciting for

May the Fourth Be With You day?

 

Fr - Fra - Friday!

I can't believe the weather change this week!

We basically went from the 50's to the low 90's

within four days.  And today - 70's.

Apparently I'm a fragile little rose petal like

Todd calls me because I caught a cold/cough

in the middle of the week.

Of course, it could have been when the kids 

were home last weekend and both brought

their cesspool of germs along with them.

I have a little project that Lexx that and I did and

I'm going to share with you next week,

but until then, here is a little sneak peek.

Can you guess what we did?