Blossom Vox Box

I am part of Influenster, which sends out boxes of fun samples of products a few times a year.  This is my second one, and I have gotten some pretty awesome products that I now love!

1.  Beanitos:  I love the taste of these babies!  They are chips made out of black beans.  However, in my old age, my gut has decided to boycott certain foods, one of them being black beans.  Ugh.  No can do.

2.  Equitance:  This was a facial lotion sunscreen.  I LOVED it!  Now that I'm 40 (sigh) I was in the market for a good sunscreen made specifically for face.  It went on smooth and has great protection.

3.  Clairol Hair Food:  Love this stuff, my hair feels so clean and not weighed down when I use it.  I need to try the conditioner now.

4.  Nasoya Pasta Zero:  Ummmmm, no.  I didn't like the texture or taste:(.

5.  Bear Naked Granola:  Love,love, love this stuff!  The Sea Salt Caramel Apple was like eating dessert.  However, as in number one, my stomach said hell no.  

6.  NYC New York Color:  I loved this pencil!  It's a greyish/brown eyeshadow pencil.  The color went on smooth and was easy to blend, and no smudges!  I also used a bit on my disappearing eyebrows, worked great!

7.  Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs:  This is a lotion with color in it, kind of like a sunless tanner.  I loved the concept, but I didn't care for this only because it was too dark for my white legs.  I think the end of summer might work better!

All in all I did love most of the products, I will definitely be buying 3 out of the 7 products!

40th Birthday Party!

Brad and I decided this year to throw ourselves a joint 40th birthday party.  My birthday is in April, and his is in June.  I did not want a surprise party, the control freak in me wanted to plan my own party, and I'm SO glad we did, it was such a blast!

Saturday started out with pedicures and manicures with my girls!  It was my mothers day gift from Brad.

We had our party at the La Playette, it's like the bar Cheers for us, haha!  Everybody knows your name and we are friends with all the bartenders.  We got there around 5:30 to get things set up.  I had to laugh because Howie Zimmer (who is Brad's cousin and used to co own the La) was there and within 5 minutes of us being there he had Rachel playing cribbage!

The party started at 6:30, and we had the band The Muffin Man play, they were phenomenal!  Sammy, the lead singer, is a friend of ours and we were so stoked they could play.

We had someone make pulled pork and then we had cole slaw and chips, we kept it very simple.

Emma and Kyleigh listening to the music, they eventually got out on the dance floor!

It was so cool to see all the people there (about 90 total) to celebrate with us.  We are very lucky to have such amazing friends and family!

My sweet mama and I...

This is my dad on the right, my step dad in the middle, and my step brother.  I am so, so fortunate to have divorced parents that not only get along, but get along with the each other's spouses.  We are very lucky!

Brad and I both had aunt and uncles that drove several hours to hang out with us, it meant so much to both of us!

My aunt Lori and Uncle Jim.

Love this pic of my mom and her sister Lori!

It was an amazing night, I am so glad that we did this.  Looking around at all the people made me realize how lucky Brad and I are.  We have such amazing, supportive families and friends.

Cheers to a super fun night!

We were totally overwhelmed by all the cards and gifts we got (even though we said no cards/gifts, haha!)  Lots of lottery tickets and gift cards.  My favorite was this caricature that my dads friend made for us, it is awesome!  Although everyone kept saying how much Brad's caricature looked like the lead singer in the band....!

Sunday was very low key (obviously), my dad and his wife came over for egg bake and then my mom, step dad and aunt and uncle came over for a bit to visit.  The day ended with burgers on the grill and Alayna's favorite food, watermelon!

Now I have to gear up for Rachel's end of the year party on Thursday....yikes...

Friday Favorites

Another Friday Favorites!  Linking up with Andrea from Momfessionals...

1.

 I got to spend the day with these two cuties at the zoo on Wednesday.  Now, it was a "fun" day in the sense that I got to spend it with Alayna and her bff Brynn.  However, I am not a zoo person.  Nor do I like crowds.  Especially when it's 85 degrees and 47 billion screaming school kids.

We were there no longer than 20 minutes when Alayna asked if we were almost done walking.  Um, no.  And then 5 minutes later she asked if it was almost lunch time.  Um, no.  

And then she was hot.  And then she was thirsty.  And then ALLLLLLLLLLL the other kids got icees, so can we?  And then she couldn't see any animals, so why were we here?  And then I may have thrown a little tantrum (in the nicest way possible, we did have friends with) and then we were done.  The end.

So here is the one and only picture I got of any animal that day.  Mind you we didn't really see anything as they were all sleeping...sigh...Just keeping this parenting this real, people!

3.  

I got some craaaaazy good deals at Old Navy!  I bought these shorts in white and hot pink, they fit perfectly and I love them!

4.

I get to hang out with this stud tonight.

We have a bunch of errands to run tonight, just the 2 of us.

5.

Tomorrow morning the girls and I are getting pedicures and manicures at the salon, I can't WAIT!  

And seriously, are these not the cutest nails ever?

5.

Our party!!!  I am so very stoked for our party tomorrow night!  I cannot wait to see all of our family and friends and mingle.  It will darn near be like our wedding reception, haha!

Happy Friday everyone!

What's Up Wednesday (on a Thursday)

Linking up with Shay for What's Up Wednesday...

What We're Eating This Week:

Brad smoked some chicken, steaks and salmon on Sunday, so we've been (or I've) eating through that.  I've had steamed veggies with some kind of meat on top everyday for lunch, SO good!

What I'm Reminiscing About:

Our trip in December to Duluth.  I so badly want another weekend away, just the two of us.  I absolutely love the north shore, and hope we can get away this summer...

What I'm Loving:

My life.  Just about every morning I sit there amazed at where I am at in my life.  I have an amazing husband that loves me unconditionally, 3 beautiful girls that keep me on my toes, and amazing friends and family.  I wouldn't be where I am today without a lot of praying!  There isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank God, not only for the big stuff, but all the little stuff too.  Like coffee, I have for real thanked God for inventing coffee, no lie.

What We've Been Up To:

This

She's so fun to watch, I'm hoping she really digs softball, because I think she could be really good at it!

What I'm Dreading:

One week from today Rachel will "graduate" from 8th grade.  She will be leaving behind our amazing little school and heading off to a new high school.  I am terrified of her being a freshmen.  Deep down I know she will be ok, but I might need that week off, just sayin...

What I'm Working On:

Trying not to fall apart, see above.....just kidding.  We are working on getting things ready for Brad's and my joint 40th birthday party on Saturday night!  We are having it at our favorite bar in town, the LaPlayette (we had our wedding reception here and it's owned by Brad's cousin) and have about 80-100 coming.  Holy crap.  We're having a friend smoke some pork for sandwiches and will have some sides to go along with it.  I am SO excited!

What I'm Excited About:

Summer.  Even though it is going to be craaaazy busy, I am ready for morning porch sitting with Brad and coffee and evening porch sitting with cocktails!  Oh, and the boat rides, grilling on the patio...

What I'm Watching/Reading:

I just finished 2 of Melanie Shankles books, and loved them!  I am now reading Beach Street Bakery, a book I won in a giveaway (Thanks Maren!), I'll let you know how they are.  I started watching a documentary about Franklin Roosevelt on PBS and it is so good, I need to find the first 2 parts of the series though...

What I'm Listening To:

Pandora at work.  Currently Stevie Nicks.

What I'm Wearing:

These skinny jeans are my favorites! So, so comfy and I don't get the muffin top because they sit higher on your waist.  Also am loving my Vince Camuto nude flats.  They took a good 2 weeks to break in, but now I love them!

What I'm Doing This Weekend:

See above, it's our big birthday party!

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month:

The second week of June we are going to the Kalahari Resort in Wisconsin Dells for 4 days.  Brad has a conference, so we are making a mini vacation out of it!  So excited!

What Else is New:

Not much, just trying to stay afloat!

Memorial Day Weekend 2015

We had a great Memorial Day weekend, it was busy, but we also had a lot of fun!  The weather was going to be iffy this weekend and we had so much stuff to get done around the house, we decided to stay home this year.  Friday night we went golfing with friends of ours, and then enjoyed a campfire.  Saturday was a working day.  Brad got the garden planted and worked on cleaning up the yard while I scrubbed all the wood on our porch.  6 hours worth of scrubbing.  Yowsa.

I can't even tell you how amazing it looks, and how sore my arms are!

I am so bummed that I didn't take any pictures at all.  Saturday evening we had a birthday party for my niece, and we picked up Alayna's bff Brynn and had her overnight.  The older two were gone at friends houses.  We got home around 7:30 and Brad and I were wiped out!  We decided to rent the movie Unbroken.  Wow.  It was very good, but very dark.  There were parts we skipped because the violence was a bit much.  Really makes you think of all the POW's, past and present and how horrible they are treated.

Sunday we finished up planting flowers and then decided to have some friends over for supper.  Brad smoked some salmon, steaks and a whole chicken.  I made homemade baked beans (they were so good!) and we had lots of yummy salsas and dips.

I framed this picture of my late grandpa Arlo and made a little Memorial Day tablescape in honor of him.  He was in the Navy for 4 years and I was able to get some information on his service through Ancestry.com.  Miss him so much!

Monday was a day of relaxation!  It was glorious!  That afternoon we took the girls to see Pitch Perfect 2, it was ok, the girls loved it.  After the movie we went to Park Diner for supper and gorged on burgers, fries and chocolate shakes.  Soooo yummy!  We were all exhausted and I went to bed at 8:30, haha!

Friday Favorites

It's that time of week again!  Linking up with Andrea for Friday Favorites...

This week was CRAAAAAAZY busy.  I'm so happy it's Friday I could fall asleep....Monday I had a LLL (I'm a La Leche League leader in our area) meeting, Tuesday (normally my day off) I had a work conference from 8-noon, then shot over to the girls' school to watch Emma's rocket launch, then ran home got dinner going and brought Alayna in to get her glasses (which I FORGOT to get a pic of) which is definitely a favorite!

1.  

Alayna started softball this week and she is really having a lot of fun.  She is on an older team and it's fast pitch, but I think she's holding her own so far!  She looks so damn cute...

2.

Since turning 40 (like a month ago) I've gained 5 pounds.  Seriously.  Everyone told me shit changes when you turn 40 and I just give them the side eye.  They weren't kidding!  So Sunday I decided I need to change up the eats.  I am a healthy eater, but love me some carbs (yes I'm looking at you, mother!).  So instead of my morning oatmeal and toast I am eating 2 scrambled eggs and some sort of meat.  This week we had venison sausage left over so I ate that.  I bought some nitrite/nitrate free turkey bacon for next week, we'll see how tasty that is.

Lunches I eat a ton of steamed veggies with a grilled chicken breast.  Snacks are almond thins with sunbutter, and dried fruit.

These dried apples are the bomb!  I'm also incorporating some kombucha in my diet.  It's a fermented tea that is SUPER good for your gut.  You have to get used to the taste, but I love it.  I like to mix it with my La Croix for an evening "cocktail".

Anyway, in 5 days I've lost 4 pounds.  Yowsa!

3. 

Last night we had Rachel and Emma's orchestra concerts.  It was Rachel's last one ever at Kennedy.  Sniff, sniff.

 

4.

With our long weekend here, we have no real plans of going anywhere, and Brad is actually home this weekend, yahoo!  We are hoping to get lots of yard work/gardening done outside and some big projects done inside.  We'll see what gets done...

5.

Excited to enjoy Memorial Day...      

 

 

 I think of all the families who have loved ones in the military and I am SO thankful for them.  I honestly don't know if I could do what they have sacrificed so that I can feel safe.  It seems there is so much going wrong in our country right now, but we have to remember all the behind the scenes things that are happening today, so that I am able to enjoy a holiday weekend.  

THANK YOU!

 

Menu Plan Monday

Happy Monday everyone!  It's time for another 

Menu Plan Monday with

Homespun Kitchen

Here's what's on deck this week!  I did have a couple roll overs as I didn't get to them last week...

Monday:  Tator tot hotdish

Tuesday:  Crispy chicken cutlets- from last week

Wednesday:  Cheeseburger Quiche

Thursday:  Either chicken or pork chops on the grill with veggies

Friday:  Most likely pizza night!

This last weekend was a great, but busy weekend.  Brad was out of town (which I HATE) but I got SO much stuff done.  Organizing drawers, cleaning out closets.  Things that have been neglected for a loooong time!

Emma had her bestie Kyleigh over and we did a photo shoot!

I did daycare for Ky from newborn until she went to Kindergarten. I also went to high school with her parents.  I love this kid (although I don't always love MY kid when they are together, uffda) and love that her and Emma are so close!

And since Brad was out of town, it would of course be the first weekend that we get severe weather here.  I think we got about 3 inches of rain and tornado warnings.

This is the pasture next to us, there is a small creek that runs through here, but you generally don't see it,

Yowsa!