What's Up Wednesday

I finally have some time to actually sit down and write a post!  I love to read my previous What's Up Wednesday posts, so I figured I would get one in quick before April shows up!

What We're Eating This Week:
Monday:  Hamburger Hashbrown Casserole- New recipe that we all enjoyed!
Tuesday: Goose Sausage- Don't judge it till you try it, this was amazing!  Brad and a couple of his friends spent all day last Saturday making sausage with the goose they shot in Canada.  We make it and smoke it ourselves, it is SO good!
Wednesday- I had a hair appt, so Brad made burgers on the grill.
Thursday: Frozen pizza- It had to be something quick since Alayna had vball practice right away at 6.
Friday: I found these packages of  lobster ravioli at Aldi, and they were amazing!  I made my own garlic cream sauce to pour over them.  We will definately be buying these again!


What I'm Reminiscing About:

Easter week has always been right up there with Christmas as far as my favorite holidays.  I really love the whole meaning of Easter and what it represents.  However, since I've been working outside the home, I've felt a disconnect.  I miss the family devotionals/crafts we use to do.  With the girls getting older, it's harder to get everyone together.  Tonight we will color our eggs and have our egg hunt (while watching the Final Four, GO KANSAS!!!), so we still have our traditions!

What I'm Loving:
I wish I could say the weather, ugh.  We got about 6 inches of snow last night and today it is so windy, yuck.  Spring doesn't appear to be showing up anytime soon.  I am ready for porch sittin and bon fires!

What We've Been Up To:
Alayna still has volleyball, she has one more tournament left.  She also signed up for track this year and I'm excited to see if she'll like it!  Rachel has confirmation coming u on the 15th, so lots of things to get ready for that too, along with about a bazillion April birthdays!

What I'm Dreading:
I know this seems silly, but I'm dreading school ending.  Because that means Rachel will be a senior.  Folks, I am NOT ready to have a senior.  I'm not ready for this at all.  I started getting pictures together and it's just SO HARD!!  So any advice you have, please share, haha!

What I'm Working On:
Nothing in particular.  Keeping us all fed and house/clothes clean seem to be enough!

What I'm Excited About:
Alayna decided not to be in softball this summer, which means this will be the first summer in about 8 years that no one will be in sports!  I can't wait to have evenings/weekends available!!

What I'm Watching/Reading:
TV?  What's that??  By the time I sit down, I try to read a little and typically fall asleep.  I would love nothing more than an evening to just watch some TV!
I haven't read a whole lot this month, but I am 3/4 of the way through the book, "Sunburn", by Laura Lippman.  A couple of my girlfriends and I decided to start a book club, and this is the first book.  Can't wait to have our first meeting!



What I'm Listening To:
Lots of Boomer Radio.  We started listening to it at work and I downloaded the app on my phone so we can listen to it at home, I love the eclectic 80's channel, so many great songs!  I also bought Sirius XM for my Acadia and LOVE it!  I listen to the Joel Osteen channel, I love his messages, Bluegrass, The Message,  the 80's, 40's and the Frank Sinatra channel are a couple of my faves.

What I'm Wearing:
I made a haul at Old Navy last week, so I'm enjoying some new springy clothes!

What I'm  Doing This Weekend:
Tomorrow morning we will head to church, then to my moms for lunch and the farm for supper.  Busy but fun day!

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month:
Lots of fun stuff happening in April!  Rachel gets confirmed, my birthday, Emma's birthday, prom, it's going to be a busy one!

  We watched a little bit of "The Passion of the Christ" last night and I am always in awe of what Jesus went through just to save us.  To know that torture and ridicule he had to endure, I just can't imagine.  I pray that each of you has a wonderful, family filled day!

Life Lately

Life lately has consisted of lots of bleacher butt watching these girls play volleyball!

They had a rough start to the season, but now they are finally getting things figured out and are fun to watch!!

Rachel has improved her hitting SO much!

I had to giggle at this pic of Maci on Valentines Day morning, apparently she thought she was part of their gift...

The girls made us a delicious Valentines supper, shrimp alfredo, homemade biscuits and chocolate lave cake (from scratch!), it was all so good!

So, ya, that pretty much sums up our life right now, work, volleyball, repeat!  In April we'll be done with both girls' seasons and I will admit that I am looking forward to things slowing down.

Plus Maci is really missing her lap time these days, HA!!

Rachel #17

Today this beautiful girl turns 17.  I literally want to cry just typing that.  I have one more year, ONE, until she is officially an adult.  Please tell me how that happened?

I feel like last week she was the sassy little threenager that would steal bananas and hide to eat them.

Now she's this outgoing, funny, loving (don't ask her sisters), beautiful young woman that we are SO proud of.

She loves her family something fierce, and I love that she still wants to hang out with us!

As terrified as I am of her going out into the "real" world in a few years, I am so excited to see her blossom.  She is so independent and once she gets her mind on something, don't bother trying to change it.

Even though she's had a year of some disappointments, she's taken it all in stride.  It's been a great reminder that things happen on God's time, not ours.

Rachel, we are so incredibly proud of the young woman you are, and can't wait to see what your future holds.  Watch out world, this girl is going places!!  We love you!!

Life Lately

Ya'll, this month has been a month.  It's been so crazy busy and I literally feel like I haven't been home hardly at all.  

First off, we sadly watched our Vikes lose to go to the Superbowl.  Ugh.  Such a disappointing loss for us, but hey, there's always next year!

We decided to have people over for the game and what started out as 5 people coming over ended with about 20!  We had fun and enjoyed some yummy food!

This is how we all felt on Monday...

Volleyball tourneys have started up for us this month also.  Rachel's team took first in their division, they started out rough but had a great comeback!

                           

Alayna's team took second in their division, they are so fun to watch and really good already!  Alayna even served 5 points overhand to win one of the games!

I had to laugh at Emma, I came home from work and found her here.  Mind you it was about 2 degrees outside!

Enjoying some drinks with our besties.  This has been a really hard month for them as Melissa lost her dad tragically on the 6th.  The last week and a half has been all about what we can do for them.  I'm pretty sure they're tired of food, haha.  We love them and will be there to support/help in any way we can.

This quote came up on Facebook and I sent it to her.  So fitting right now.

And finally, Valentines Day.  Brad was in Vegas this week, so it was just the girls and I.  I had to laugh at Maci, I guess she was feeling left out...

Of course, heart shape pancakes for breakfast!  I made homemade pizza for supper and I'm pretty sure I was sleeping on the couch by 8:30.  Sad.

Today I head to the cities for HR training.  I've been going every Thursday this month and have one class left.  As much as I love going, and breaking up my week, I'm so behind at work! Oh, well, I'll eventually get caught up!!

Have a great rest of your week!!

What's Up Wednesday!

It's time for the first What's Up Wednesday for 2018!!  I love these posts to look back on to see what we were up to!



What We're Eating This Week:
Monday: Instant Pot Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes- So this was an initial fail on my part turned good, lol.  You place your chopped potatoes on the bottom of your instant pot, then add chicken broth.  You place your meatloaf wrapped in foil on the rack on top of the potatoes.  I forgot to add the chicken broth, so it never pressure cooked.  The meatloaf was half done, so I popped it in the oven for about 20 minutes.  Everything still turned out delicious!

Tuesday: Tacos

Wednesday: Tator Tot Hotdish

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Homemade Pizza

What I'm Reminiscing About:
I'm starting to go through pics of the girls since I will have a senior in high school next year (sob).  Seeing how little they were and cute, and naughty, and snuggly.  *sigh*

What I'm  Loving:
I just signed up for Beachbody On Demand and I LOOOOVE IT!!  It costs $100/year and you have on demand access to hundred's of the Beachbody videos.  I've been using Beachbody videos for years, and I'm so excited to be able to choose a new one everyday.  Most of the programs come with meal plans and tips and tricks, it's like having a personal trainer in your home at all times.  Love it!

What We've Been Up  To:

I have to say that January has actually been pretty quiet, it's been so nice!  February will bring lots of volleyball.

What I'm Dreading:

Nothing I can think of.

What I'm Working On:

Myself, haha!  I have lots of goals in 2018 and am excited to see where it takes me.  One of the things I'm enjoying is taking some HR classes for work.  My goal is to be in HR fulltime in a couple of years.  I am really enjoying these classes!

What I'm Watching/Reading:

So, I've always loved reading.  But let's be real, with 3 kids and working outside the home, my time to read had been non existent.  So one of  my goals this year is to read 40 books.  Last year I started to get back into reading, but I'm really making this a priority.
You guys, in January I ready 8 books!!!  8!!!  2 of them I was about a quarter of the way done, but still!  Here's what I read, and I am horrible at describing books, so I linked them all to Amazon so you can read the reviews, haha!

Lies You Wanted To Hear


This was a  good easy read, even though it took me a few months to get through, only because I had 3 books going a the same time.  This one is about a dad who decides to take his kids and create a new life with new names as he feel their mom is not fit.

The Leaving


I didn't really care for this book.  It's about 6 kids who disappear after getting on a school bus in kindergarten.  16 years later they show up but have no memory of what happened. It got a little too sci weirdy for me.

As Good As True


I loved this book! It was about the life of a woman in the south who is the daughter of Syrian immigrants.  Her husband is very abusive and a choice she makes, changes everything.  This one I got free through my Kindle and I would absolutely recommend this one!

Coming Clean


Oh my word you guys, this book was incredible!!!  It's the true story of Kimberly's life living with parents who are hoarders, it's funny and  it's SO sad.

The Couple Next Door


This was another win!  I think everyone and their mother has read this one.  Lots of twists and turns, quick read!

Susannah's Garden


This was a great chick lit book.   Susannah goes back to her childhood home to help her mother settle into a nursing home.  She decided to try to find her high school boyfriend that she lost contact with and always wondered what happened to him.  The ending was really good!

Behind Closed Doors


This one I didn't care for.  It was so dark.  Jack and Grace appear to have the perfect marriage, but what you see is definitely not what it is like for Grace.  It's really quite depressing and I was glad when it ended!

Longing For Paris


After reading the previous book, I needed some uplifting and this book did just that!  I loved how she really gets you to think about making the most of even the smallest things and incorporating God into your everyday life.   Loved this book!

Whew!  That was quite the month!  I was down and out with pneumonia for a couple days, so when my head was pounding, I was laying on the couch reading.  I also installed the Kindle app on my phone so now I read instead of scrolling social media when I am waiting for the girls for pickup.  I have also implemented the no social media after supper rule.  So far so good!

We also went and saw, "The Greatest Showman", and we loved it!  All 5 of us!  Plus we have been listening to the soundtrack non stop.  SO SO GOOD!!

What I'm  Listening To:



Yep, on repeat.

What I'm Wearing:

Clothes.  I seriously think I should skip this one. lol

What I'm Doing This Weekend:

Saturday is free, so most likely grocery shopping and meal prepping.  Sunday Alayna has a volleyball tournament and then when we get home we will go to Brad's sisters to watch the Super Bowl.  So sad that our Vikes didn't make it...

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month:

Hopefully warmer weather??  It's been SO COLD here.  And very little snow which sucks.  I just want t big ole snowstorm!

So that's a bit of what we've been up to!

Happy New Years!

Yes, I know, I'm a bit behind here...this month has flooooooown by!  I can't believe tomorrow is February already!

We had a wonderful New Years, the whole weekend was honestly perfection.  Friday night we stayed home and just chilled which was so nice with the craziness of Christmas.  Saturday I started taking all the Christmas decorations down (insert sobbing face).  I literally started at 9 am and didn't finish until about 6:00.  I cleaned every nook and cranny of this house and it felt SO good to have everything put away and clean!

Sunday was a super chill day, Brad and I did our grocery shopping and meal prepping so we were set for the week.  We are heading back into doing The Fast Metabolism Diet again.  We first did it in 2016 and had success with it.  We did it last year too.  I have continued following the program loosely and feel like it has really helped me control my weight.  The thing I love most is that Brad helps out a ton with meal prep, I love having us in the kitchen!

Later in the afternoon we headed over to Brad and Trisha's for New Years Eve festivities.

Love these kiddos!!

New Years Day was another chill day.  We literally laid around most of the day binge watching Cheers!  Alayna LOVES that show!

The next weekend Alayna had her first volleyball tournament and we were seriously blown away at what a good little player she is!  They were fun to watch and ended up coming in second place!

We love this time of year watching volleyball, especially with two of them now!

Christmas 2017

I can't even believe the holiday season is over...December seemed to fly by!

We had a WONDERFUL Christmas and am already sad to see my favorite holiday gone.  Here's a little recap of what we were up to!

Emma made a snack mix to give to her friends for Christmas...

Her cards she made were amazing!!!

On Saturday we had my mom and her husband over for supper.  I made chili and it was just such a nice relaxing evening!

Christmas Eve we got the most beautiful snow...we didn't get much, but it was beautiful and exactly what I was hoping for Christmas!

Emma made us a special breakfast...

We headed to Brad's sisters in the afternoon to celebrate.  Everyone brings appetizers and we just munch all afternoon.  

Our Christmas Cheer drink that we made was a huge hit!  We bought large square ice cube trays to use for the drink

We were home by 6:30 and enjoyed our evening opening gifts with the girls ( mom and dad got SPOILED!!!) and grazing on more appetizers.  We finished the night watching "Christmas Vacation" for the last time this year.  I thought Emma was going to cry, haha!!  The girls always sleep in Rachel's room on Christmas Eve, they watch movies and I love this tradition they have!

Even Maci was wiped...

Christmas morning was more gifts, mass and then to the farm to spend the day. My favorite part of the day was when we all sat down to go over our goals for 2018.  I found a fun printable that had you fill out your favorite memories from 2017, and different things you want to accomplish in 2018.  It was so fun to hear what everyone's goals are.  I must say that everyone put a lot of thought into it and we look forward to doing this every Christmas!

Brad and I both had Tuesday off which so nice to just relax after a few busy days.  Emma attempted to teach us how to do calligraphy.  Lets just say it didn't go well.  Brad's paper says "Emma sucks", but it looks like "Emma ducks", lol!!!

Brad and Rick took the two little to see the latest Star Wars movie, she loved it!

This weekend has been glorious, yesterday I took all the Christmas decor down and cleaned the house from top to bottom.  Today is just a relax kind of day.  The house is clean, laundry is done, meals are planned and groceries are bought.

I will say that 2017 has not been my favorite year, but I know that it can only get better from here.  I am excited to see what is in store for our family!