What's Up Wednesday

My favorite post of the month is here. What's Up Wednesday with Shay, Mel, and Sheaffer. I love doing this monthly link-up, for more reasons than I'm a terrible blogger when I'm busy.

What we're eating this week....
Aside from way too many Reese's Eggs (the little ones thankfully), I'm working towards a Whole30 again. I'm tired of feeling like a run down busted can of biscuits, so Whole30 it is. There will be breaks for special events and I'm not going to beat myself up over it. It is what it is. But anything will help. Since most of our meals are Whole30/Paleo, the most difficult part is snacking and wine. Oh, the wine! Anyways.. last night I made this Thai Steak & Green Bean Stir Fry. Oh. My. Gosh! We all devoured it. I threw in some red pepper just to get it used and subbed cauliflower rice for actual rice. So, so good! I want to make it again asap. And probably will tomorrow.

What I'm reminiscing about...
I honestly can't think of anything I've been thinking about. That is so unlike me, but I'm just not.

What I'm loving...
I came up with a very refreshing drink a couple of weeks ago. A local red wine + lemon lime seltzer water. Its basically a spritzer. Delicious.

Also loving that we are down to the last few steps of the mudroom. My handy hubby got the flooring done a few weeks ago. I am in LOVE with it. I want it everywhere in the house. Of course, I said that as it was freshly completed and Danny told me I was shit out of luck on that one. 

I got all of the trim painted last week and its ready to be hung. It was a LOT of trim and a LOT of work. But worth it. 

What we've been up too...
Getting back into our "normal" routines. Its taking a lot longer than I expected. I really thought March 15th would get here (end of my busy season) and everything would just magically be okay on March 16th. No. Not how that works. I apparently have forgetting just how often I really did do laundry and cook dinner and workout and sleep and do anything. Danny has only not had a clean uniform twice. Getting sick didn't help anything.

We've been playing at a new park. Our park in town is just kind of "meh" so driving 15 minutes to get to a much better one is totally worth it.

What I'm working on...
No longer working on trim or losing my mind at work. So, I'm moving on to actual projects. I am hosting a bridal shower for my future sister-in-law in less than a month so I'm slowly plugging away at that. I should probably pick up the pace.  I've also got materials for something like this for our living room, thanks to this tutorial at A Girl and A Glue Gun.

We have this bare space over our couch that needs some attention. I can't wait to spruce it up.

What I'm excited about...
Next weekend the hubby and I are going to Louisville to see GARTH BROOKS in concert. I'm excited to cross an item off my bucket list and spend a night with Danny. I've been so busy lately and he's about to get busy so the trip is needed. Plus a customer of mine told me about a really good restaurant in Louisville so that is something I'm also looking forward too. I will report back.

What I'm watching/reading...
Still reading Big Little Lies. I'm almost done though!

I'm watching Law & Order: SVU and getting caught up on my Chicago shows, Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. Still on the fence about starting Chicago Med.  A new show came out that I think Danny and I will enjoy and that is The Catch on ABC.

What I'm listening to...
For the next week it will be mostly Garth to get myself pumped up for the concert. I get this from my dad. On the way to concerts, he would always have to listen to the artist. I haven't been listening to much music though. After spending sometimes 5 hours a day in the car by myself 2-3 times a week, I got kind of burnt out.

What I'm wearing...
I'm wearing one of these Portofino Shirts from Express. I got kind of burnt out on wearing them since that was my "meeting uniform" so I haven't worn one since my last meeting 2 weeks ago. In all seriousness though, I loved having a uniform. Do you know how refreshing it was to have one less decision to make every day? I need to find my summer "uniform" now because it was just awesome.

What I'm doing this weekend...
The only thing I really want to do is go watch my niece's play volleyball on Sunday. I don't really care what happens this weekend since next weekend is going to be the BEST!

What I'm looking forward to next month...
Garth, obviously. The bridal shower. I really love throwing parties! And hopefully getting the camper ready and the mudroom done. April is shaping up to be pretty busy and exciting!

What else is new...
Tucker is now in a big boy bed!

Danny sent me the top picture while Tuck and I were out shopping with my mom and future sister-in-law and I showed it to Tuck to get him excited. Because of that picture, he thinks Diesel "opened his bed for him."  And why did Diesel open his bed? So Tucker can "get out."  Its gone much better than I anticipated after that response.

Also... I am now a Beachbody Coach!! I fell in love with PiYo so much that I became a coach. There are other reasons that I became a coach, but PiYo was the biggest. I'm very excited to see where this little journey takes me!

Bonus: What's my best spring cleaning tip...
Have a drink while doing it. Really though.

Easter Weekend

Hi! Crop insurance sales season is over, I barely survived, and I'm hopefully back to blogging regularly. I was told that my posts were missed by my mom and a blogging friend and I've missed it too. A holiday weekend is the perfect way to get back in the game.

Easter weekend started Thursday for us. I left work around 3:45 so Danny and I could take Tucker to see the Easter Bunny. It went sooooo well....

Our good friends that moved to Ohio over the summer were in town and the guys went out with my brother and to my brothers because they were told they were not allowed to stay and watch Pretty Little Liars with us. No even playing. We enjoyed too much wine, chit chatted and literally jumped out of our seats a couple times when we finally got around to watching PLL. We have soooo many questions and ended up talking about it the next night on the way home from dinner!

I was in desperate need of a mental health day, so I took Friday off. Which is probably what led to me drinking so much wine I was convinced the headache at 4:45am was the end of me. Since it wasn't I'll probably make that same exact mistake again and again. 2 cups of coffee and ibuprofen did nothing for my headache. I caved and broke my no pop rule as a Hail Mary and thankfully I did because the Diet Mountain Dew cleared that bad boy right up. Friday I lounged, Easter and meal planned, took a short nap and showered at a leisurely pace. It was lovely and much needed.  I picked Tucker up to play at home for a bit before our friends arrived to go to dinner. We dropped the grumpy toddler off at my moms and went to eat. Our first stop was packed due to IU playing, so we went to PF Changs which wasn't crowded at all. After dinner we walked to Cheesecake Factory to pick up dessert to take back to our house after making a pit stop for some wine. Told you I don't learn.

When we got home we watched old home movies. Amber and I have been friends since 1st grade and participated in our school's talent show when we were in 4th grade. She wanted to watch the recording. Our husbands were questioning the fact that they asked to spend the rest of their lives with us while we were laughing so hard we were crying. Danny went to a private catholic school that didn't have gym AND talent shows and Noah went to a smaller public school. We also watched a 30 minute "news special" that Amber, myself, and 3 other friends recorded at one of my birthday parties. It was 30 minutes of nothing but horrible video camera operating. Again, the guys were concerned about their intelligence. Before they left Amber and I got a picture with our wine glasses that I made for us. I saw similar ones at a winery in the fall and told Danny I wanted to get a set for Amber and I, but couldn't stomach paying $20 for just one. So I made some!

 

If I look sick, its because I am.

Saturday I got up and did 2 PiYo workouts then headed off to the grocery store before it got crowded.  I prepped an Easter dessert then met my mom to pick Tucker up to head to Easter #1. Danny was at work so it was just Tucker and I. We ate, hunted for eggs and played wiffle ball(which I shouldn't have done). Tucker really enjoyed the egg hunt. While Danny's brother was throwing them on the ground, he kept putting them back in his bag because he "was dropping them on the ground" so that was pretty funny. Then during the actual hunt he would yell the colors of the eggs as he gathered them. So cute!

Easter Sunday rolled around and I sent the boys off to church and headed to MedCheck to figure out what was wrong with me. My mom thought I had bronchitis and.. of course she was right.

But, Easter doesn't care about bronchitis, so I left and played Easter bunny at my father-in-laws and hit about 60 eggs. I picked up my meds then went home to sleep for a bit. I woke up feeling much better, but only for long enough to make it through lunch and an egg hunt. Oh, and to smash a raw egg on my forehead. My niece thought it would be funny to do Jimmy Fallon's egg challenge. There were 3 raw eggs out of the entire bowl. Of course I got handed a raw one. Tucker made out like a bandit with the egg hunt unfortunately. I've eaten all of the mini-Reese's eggs. We snapped a family photo then came home so I could rest and we could wait on my family. We were classy with our dinner and ate Taco Bell while we sat around watching Tucker come down from his sugar high. I wasn't too worked up about it since I was pretty sure it was par for the course for a toddler on Easter. Even Diesel was nuts.

Now its over and I'm still eating Reese's eggs. I'm eating them from the comfort of my living room this morning. I took the morning off to relax and cough up the crap in my chest. Relaxing morning, right?

Friday Favorites - #healthyfood

This edition of Friday Favorites is inspired by one of my husband's co-workers, who was a freshman when we were seniors and he looks like he could be my second little brother. So, he's practically family. Anyways, he's always making comments to Danny about the food we eat and that it looks good! Even when we are whole30ing. Yesterday he sent me a text asking details on the food.. where do I buy our healthy food, where to do I get recipes, etc. The semi-local supermarket and "Pinterest, duh" was my second answer. I also told him my other recipe source. Instagram. He then asked "do you just search #healthyfood?" While he's got the right idea, that hashtag will get you TONS of useless results I'm guessing. I'm sure I'm not the only sarcastic Instagram user out there. I'd put that hashtag on a piece of cheesecake if it had fruit on it. I actually think I've done that.

Our household is doing a hybrid Paleo/Whole30/a few exceptions eating plan. Whole30 is the base plan, but we allow for forbidden things like compliant but against the rules pancakes and Danny drinks a protein shake before he works out. We're both traveling a lot for work right now (him to class, me to meet with clients in small towns) so we're doing the best we can. Tucker eats what we eat when he's with us.

So, here we go with the faves sources...

1. Pinterest. I considered giving up Pinterest for Lent but then I immediately asked myself "how will I feed my family" It sounds silly I know, but I'm not super creative or reliable on food choices yet. I turn to Pinterest for when I'm looking for a specific type of food. Yesterday my sweet tooth was getting the better of me, so I found some cookies and a mug cake. I have a Paleo/Whole30 board.  I don't add to it all that often because I've found some great recipes that keep making appearances.

Paleo Breakfast Casserole - I used regular ground sausage and this is easily our favorite paleo meal. I made it for dinner last night and there aren't any leftovers. Danny said its the one meal that makes him feel like he isn't "missing out" on anything.

Spiced Butternut Squash soup - I'm the only one that likes this and that's okay. Its the perfect food to pair with other things like chicken salad or chicken wings. Speaking of chicken wings...

Glazed Chicken Wings - These were great! I prepped them at lunch to marinade during the afternoon and popped them in the oven that evening. They were great the next day. I'm going to try the marinade on boneless chicken thighs soon since Danny is anti-bone in chicken.

2. Instagram. I go here when I need inspiration. The Instagram community is a creative bunch. I follow a few Whole30 faithfuls, but a good old fashioned search does wonders. I search #whole30 the most, but also search #paleo some too. When I'm meal planning and I'm having trouble filling a meal, I'll search for that meal, so #whole30lunch (lunch is the worst). Everyone complains about how Instagram is just a bunch of people posting what they ate. Well you know what? I'M GLAD! 

3. Blogs. Now that I've done Whole30 off and on for the better part of the last year, I turn to my own posts some. Posting my meals the very first Whole30 was a good move on my part. I can look back to see what we actually ate, what we liked, and what we didn't like. I also like the whole smiths. She made a Pineapple Fried "Rice" that was so great, fresh and as leftovers. The entire time I was cooking it, I was getting all Mix and Match Mama thinking of ways to change it into a Mexican dish versus a Chinese dish.

And that's how I do it. Nothing spectacular and nothing out of the ordinary.

Weekend Recap

Monday is here already. For once I am just kind of indifferent about it. Tucker was the portrait of a two year old yesterday, but we also had some fun the last couple of days as well.

Friday I got a call from my mother-in-law that Tuck went home with my brother-in-law and nieces. When I left work to go pick him up, he stuck that lip out and said he wanted to stay. Aunt Dee couldn't tell him no, so he stayed for tacos and I got a couple of free hours to myself. I walked on the treadmill, ate dinner and read my book. It was pretty awesome. When he got home he pretty much went right to bed. Even more impressive it was the first time I said anything about it. After he went to bed I folded some laundry, painted my nails and watched a couple of episodes of Chicago Fire.

Saturday was our fun day! My Christmas present from Tucker was a date of my choice. One of the options was a trip to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis. I picked that one but chose to go to the one in Muncie since it was closer and cheaper, making it a better option for a test run. We loved it! I mean, Tucker didn't play with anything longer than 5 minutes and made 2 laps around the first floor to play with everything, but it was great!

He found the train table... no surprise here.

For $6 a pop, we'll definitely be going back! And Tuck will probably have this reaction every single time it's time to leave and go home.

After the museum it was time for lunch.  Lunch was supposed to be Chik-Fil-A, per the date options, but I decided to help him (and his bank account, aka Daddy) and go with Steak n Shake since Danny's grandpa recently gave us a gift card and coupons. Tuck pretty much took ownership of "our" shake.

Next was my brother's birthday celebration. For his dinner he chose... Golden Corral. I think he chose this for the simple fact that my mom, his fiancé and me don't like buffets. Well, I like The Journey since it was fantastic and not your typical buffet, but that's it. After dinner we went back to their house for cake and to play with their puppy. Tucker loves Max and his Aunt Megan!

Sunday was the "Toddler Day" of the weekend. The constantly talking loudly during church, super independent and lots of not listening. When Danny asked if I wanted to go to the grocery store alone, he barely got the word "alone" out before I said yes.  I said "pick up your Legos" no less than 55 times yesterday. Despite the toddler-ness of Tucker, we still took him to visit some friend of ours and their baby goats. It took him a while to wake up from his very much needed 15 minutes nap on the way, but once he did he LOVED them. I see some goats at our house in the next couple of years! I honestly wouldn't mind. They sure were sweet!

 

We got home late so it was a pizza kind of night. After Whole30ing for the majority of the last 2 weeks, a weekend of pizza, milkshakes and buffet food sure is weighing me down today. My body, and sanity, is very happy its Monday!

Show & Tell Tuesday: How to Win My Heart

Its safe to say that the only time I will be blogging between now and March 15th is when there is a link up. I've got non-link up topics floating in my head, but no memory to help me jot them down. It'll happen someday :)

Today's link up is part of the year long party with Andrea @ Momfessionals, Show & Tell Tuesday. Today we're telling the world how to Win our Hearts in honor of Valentine's Day. Speaking of, I need to find a gift or two for my Valentine's!

Since my heart is no longer good for the taking, I'm going to share how my husband won my heart. These are memories from our pre-marriage days that stand out.

- Danny and I's relationship, or the months leading up to our relationship, started by driving around listening to music, so its no surprise that some of my favorite memories have to do with him singing to me. The biggest: A few days before we started for real dating we went to dinner and on the way home he sang "She's Everything" by Brad Paisley. Another time he sang to me was at a Rascal Flatts concert in 2009. They were singing "I Melt" which was one of the songs that we listened too a couple times when we were driving around that first night and he just grabbed me and started dancing with me as he sang.

- He is there for me no matter what time or what I need him to do. He once dropped everything to go pick a friend and I up from the airport with about 45 minutes notice. And there he stood, flowers in hand.
- Speaking of flowers, I've received a TON of no reason, just because flowers. I've also received some "I'm sorry for being an asshole" too, so he can admit when he's wrong.
- Another bouquet of flowers was given to me the day he went to school. I moved him in at school with his mom and nephews and when his mom dropped me off at home after midnight that night, a beautiful bouquet of flowers, from Danny, was waiting for me on the kitchen table. He had arranged for it to happen before we left.
- Danny went to school in Wilmington, OH for his first year of college. There were many, many weekends that went until the wee hours of Monday morning just so he could stay with me one more night but still make it back to school in time for class. He sacrificed many hours of sleep for a few more hours with me.
- He endured many sorority formals. The first couple are fun for the non-Greek significant other, but after a few and especially when your sorority girlfriend is sober monitor, they lose their flare.
- He was totally fine spending most weekends hanging out with my parents and their friends.

- One Christmas he made dinner for my mom, dad, brother and me while we opened presents. He had a few gifts from my parents, but he also whipped up a delicious "Chef's Surprise" for us too. This was after he worked Christmas Eve at the fire department too. Christmas Eve's are notoriously busy in that line of work.
- After getting home late from a concert, he agreed to drive an hour and a half away the next morning to watch me coach one single softball game. It was a good thing too, because on the way home is when I got the call about my dad passing away.
- In relation to that event, he arranged to take a week off of work before he even told me he did it. He didn't ask if I wanted him too, he just did it.
- He's a good sport.

- He planned a few birthday parties for me. One actually happened 3 weeks before my birthday since he was supposed to be in football camp at Wilmington and he was going to miss it. He had a friend drive me around, he picked up Chili's take out, and we ate on the deck by candlelight. After dinner, my Grammy and family had cake with us.
- When I went to Florida for spring break our freshman year of college, Danny stuck notes in my luggage before I left. There was one in my suitcase, one in my make up bag, one in my carry-on, and one in my purse. And since this was before smartphones and Facebook being at your fingertips, he wrote me a message every day I was gone so I could read them when I got home.

I'm married to quite the charmer.