She's 18!!!

Happy Birthday to Miss Janel who turns 18 today!! It's been a fun (and eventful) morning for me, and hopefully for her as well!

I woke up bright and early around 5:45 this morning. No snoozing today! I showered, got ready, and then stepped into the kitchen to make some "birthday" whole wheat banana walnut pancakes and peppermint/mate vana tea for her. I wrapped the couple of gifts we have for her and stuck them in the front seat of the car. Jordan had picked up 2 dozen roses from Costco yesterday, and I was determined to smuggle them to school without her knowing.

After I dropped the girls off at school, I dropped off our recycling and headed into Kroger with the roses and large glass vase in tow. The lady at Customer Service came over to help me with the balloons and I arranged some baby's breath into the roses while she blew up a large "Happy 18th" and a couple of latex balloons. We had a funny time as she accidentally let a couple of them go, and they got caught on the rafters about 4-5 feet above us. We had to call maintenence to bring a ladder and get them down. Haha! It was comical. But finally, I left with balloons, chocolates, roses and a card!

I headed back to the school to take the goods to Student Services, only to walk in and find out that students can't have glass OR latex in school. I definitely should have known that! Boo! BUT, she can have her card and chocolates, and they promised to call her soon to the office so she can see the delivery.

I'm sure it will be an eventful day and I pray she feels loved and blessed!

Women & Family

Okay, now for a quick update on my weekend. We were in Atlanta, GA for our denomination's national women's conference on Thursday, Friday and part of Saturday. The conference was at the Omni Hotel in downtown Atlanta. Beautiful hotel and I loved being downtown in a big city. We stayed outside of Atlanta at a friend's house. The weekend was VERY impacting...there were some amazing speakers and most importantly, God really spoke to me about some specific things. It was awesome! I also got to go to H&M which I SO love to do when I get a chance AND my very first trip to IKEA ever! So great! I didn't get much b/c there was only about 1 thing I needed, but I loved the experience and we did get some cinnamon rolls and coffee on our way out. (Yes, IKEA has cinnamon rolls!)





After the conference ended at noon on Saturday, I drove to meet my brother, Dylan and his fiance Meaghan, who currently lives in Atlanta doing grad school. I spent Saturday evening with them and Meaghan's parents, and had a GREAT time. They are super fun and I am so glad they're going to be part of my extended family on August 14th!



We ate, laughed, looked at pictures, went to church and then ended the time at Barnes & Noble with me reading and them studying.
(They both have TONS of studying right now in their lives!) I had a great drive back....made it to my house in 3 1/2 hours and spent pretty much the ENTIRE time on the phone until it died. Sunday Jordan and I relaxed and ate Moe's, and watched a little Oscar's action before crawling into bed.

I am thankful for an awesome weekend in which God moved and I had a great time with friends and family!

Lunch invention

So I totally have fun things to post about my past weekend in Atlanta, but since I am currently eating lunch and taking a quick break....that will have to wait until after work. But one of the things I realized I love about being able to work from home (thank you, Steve!) is being able to go in my kitchen and make lunch. When I worked outside of the home I usually packed my lunch every day, one to save money and two because I hate eating out over and over. Plus, I LOVE cooking, so I would rather make my food than have someone else make it for me.

Well today I am just very much enjoying my lunch and I thought I'd tell you about it! I went grocery shopping yesterday (I hit Publix, Kroger, Walgreens & CVS for weekly specials) so I knew I had stuff to make grilled cheese. But, when I got in the kitchen, I decided that instead of plain ol' grilled cheese, I would use the monterey jack I had and pair it with some sliced apples for a spruced up sandwich. Yum yum! It is delicious! Rainbow Peppers were on sale at Publix yesterday and I stocked up on red- my favorite!! So whatever you are eating for lunch today- I sure hope you enjoy it as much as I am enjoying mine! Bon Appetit!

The Hopie Show

So, for those of you who aren't obsessed with little Hopie, like I am, I apologize, although can you really apologize about posting too many pictures of an adorable baby girl. As you can see, I'm on a little bit of a Hopie fix right now and thought I would reflect on her short little life so far! :-) So, here you go: (I know at least Erin & Hope will love it! haha)

The Prettiest

LOOK AT MY NIECE!!!!

What a cutie! I am in love.

whitestrips fiasco

So the other day I decided my teeth are getting too yellow....I really like my tea and my coffee. Though I am very conscious to limit my caffeine intake to only one cup of coffee or two cups of caffeinated tea per day, there are many days where I have 3-5 cups of tea or 2 cups of tea and a cup of decaf coffee....hence the yellow stain. (now everyone's going to be staring at my teeth- hah!)

So, what have a I done about it, you ask?

Other than brushing often, flossing and using mouthwash, I have some Crest whitestrips that I had leftover from a box a while ago. I decided I would sleep in them.....what? I know, I know...horrible idea....horrible for my teeth...etc, etc. But, I did it two nights in a row.

The result? Visibly whiter teeth, but today- they're SO sensitive!! Ow, Ow, Ow!

No more white strips for me right now! Gotta give the poor teeth a break. I'm going to go make some tea, though!!

Updates

Jordan and I are enjoying a super relaxing day at a friend's lakehouse today.

(That's my view through the screen-not too shabby) We were supposed to come out and spend last night and tonight out here. We actually got out here last night, made dinner, and then ended up needing to head back to help deal with an issue with one of the girls who lives with us. Everything is fine, but Jordan and I felt we needed to be there. So, we ended up spending the night at home and after talking with her this morning and then taking her to school, headed back up here. We're relaxing and doing NOTHING!!!! Amazing...my favorite. Just made grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch (I don't care how old you are...that's good!) and I am about to do some reading and might watch a little of my Pride & Prejudice miniseries my mom got me for Christmas! So exciting! :-) We are coming back in the morning but just needed a quick "breather!" We also got to have lunch with some friends- Jason & Allyson Gill, who are expecting twins in the next few weeks...and I enjoyed taking some pictures of their son, Reeves. What a cutie! So, enjoy:

Oatmeal

You can't tell me that doesn't look good! That's my oatmeal from this morning. I made some for the girls before I took them to school, and then made some for myself when I got back. Here are some reasons why I love oatmeal:

- The health benefits are amazing! You will always find oats on ANY list of so-called "superfoods" because they are so high in protein & soluble fiber, and have been shown to help reduce the risk of heart disease and lower cholesterol. Oatmeal is also very filling, which makes it a great morning meal.

- They are so easy to make. Many people think that rolled-oats are difficult, and therefore opt for the "quicker" less healthful quick or instant oats. While you're still going to get some health benefit, by using quick oats, you are lessening the health value of the food. Steve showed us a great way to make rolled oats that is so simple, and now I can have a bowl ready to go in 2 minutes flat, with no mess but the bowl I made it in!

- You can dress it up ALL kinds of ways. This morning is blueberries, a little brown sugar, toasted almonds & cranberries. SO delish! We also like banana/walnut or cranberry/walnut oatmeal.

- It is inexpensive! I buy a large carton of oats at Kroger or Publix for under $2, and I don't even know how many servings that produces...I just know it's a lot!!

So there you have it! Hopefully I've convinced you to give oats a try if you don't already. I think you'll find it well worth it!

PS- For those who can't handle the texture of oatmeal (like my friend Janelle) I have a GREAT home-made granola recipe which I make about once a week, and mix with yogurt for another great breakfast chock full of good stuff!

B-day Fantasmo

Yesterday was just great. It happened to be my birthday- AND the superbowl!! How much better for me does it get. The day went something like this:

-Woke up, had a nice relaxing morning. Got to sleep later than usual b/c we have gone back to one service at church so I no longer have to be there at 7am....it was 8:30 instead.

-Had a great in some ways, sad in some ways service at church (we have some families leaving the church, so it's difficult to say goodbye) All in all, it was a great morning and good connections!

-Went to lunch with my honey at Moe's and had a great connection with someone we ran into there...love how God works!

-Stopped by Publix to pick up a couple of things....had another great connection with a couple Jordan knew from a previous job- found out they moved into the neighborhood next door...pretty cool....again- so cool how God works!

-relaxed until Robby & Ferris arrived- had fun chatting with them

-The Kellums surprised me (I was hoping they were coming, but didn't know for sure) to hang out for my b-day and watch the game

-Ian joined us, and we all had fun watching a GREAT game and eating yummy food!! (Menu: grilled shrimp, homemade guacamole, chili/cheese dip, homemade vanilla ice cream and apple pie, double tomato bruschetta)

-closed out the evening with the Kellums watching 'The Office."

Great day, great evening, and looking forward to a great and full week!