It's Thursday, again!

Since it is Thursday again, that means I went to Weight Watchers today and I lost 2.2 lbs! I'm excited--2 weeks and I have lost 6.2 lbs! Attitude is everything! No worries, this was a water, no fat gelato!





I am thankful for my family this week. Not just my birth family, but my in-law's family as well. Mike's parents and my parents don't live near us, so it is a blessing when we get to spend time with everyone. Mike's parents come down to visit about every 4 to 6 weeks. My parents come visit about every 3 or 4 months. I'm so thankful for Skype that we can talk on the computer and see each other. I can't imagine not having that now. Mike and I grew up in Christian homes hundreds of miles apart. I'm so thankful that our parents followed God's leading when having a family. I hope to one day carry on their legacy. I love you, all!

(Proverbs 22:6 NIV) Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

I'm also thankful that Mike has reconnected with a friend from the past, Cade. They got to spend all day Tuesday with each other. Cade now lives in NC and was in FL for a fishing trip and took time out of the boat to be with Mike for the day. Cade--I'm on the hunt for some Rays mementos from your trip! ha ha ha

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy Birthday Dad! I hope you have a wonderful day. I have been thinking about you ALL day. I wish I could be with you to celebrate. I look forward to chatting on SKYPE later! Love you!

Fun with Friends Weekend

Saturday morning we had plans to meet the Busby's for breakfast. We either have to plan months in advance or last minute planning for our schedules to work. We had been planning this for one week and it worked out more than we had planned. Neither of us had plans for the rest of the day, so we were able to help Pastor Busby (PB) clean out his garage. Mike was a big help, except for the fact that we came home with things from the garage. (Thanks PB!) While the men worked in the garage, the ladies enjoyed time on the Wii. Katelyn and I raced each other and raced on the same team on Mario Cart. She also taught me some "tricks" and how to do some extra things on the Wii. (Thanks Katelyn!) Tammi is a HUGE reader and she loaned me some books that she recently enjoyed. I told her to keep track that I have her books, because I don't know when I finish reading them. (I can't read through books as fast as she can.) I can't wait to start reading! (Thanks Tammi!)



After all the working, we were hungry again. So we decided to head to Downtown St. Pete for an early dinner. We ate at a little place called Moon Under Water. It had a variety of food from burgers to salads to indian to english dishes. The weather was perfect to eat outside.

We then strolled along the water enjoying all the activities. After our walk, we enjoyed a gelato at at a little Cafe. I got a No Fat made with water, not milk, half Strawberries and half Wild Berries gelato. It was very refreshing! What a beautiful spring day to give thanks for God's creation, friends and our area where we live!



Thanks Busby's for a fun day!

Fun with Friends Weekend

Friday night we had some friends over, the Deckers, and we had a fun time finishing our Wii Monopoly game and just hanging out as friends. I fixed an adult dessert, but for Conner I wanted him to feel as though he had a special dessert. I had different toppings for him to make an ice cream sundae. He had lots of fun and knew exactly what he wanted on it. He was down to the last bite and it dropped on his shirt. I got a napkin and started to wipe the shirt and his comment was "Hey--I was going to lick that off." I'll know better next time! I made a Pineapple-Blueberry Dump Cake for the adults. My sister in law, Katie, made one similar back in February, but I forgot to buy the pie filling on her recipe, so I looked on line and found this one. Here's the recipe, it's easy!

1 20 oz can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 box yellow or lemon cake mix
2/ cup brown shugar, packed
1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350. In a 9x13 dish coated with cooking spray, spread the pineapple and blueberries over the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle evenly with the cake mix and brown sugar. Drizzle the butter evenly over the top. Bake for 45-50 minutes until bubbly. (This recipe is only 250 calories per serving--of course, without the ice cream.)

Thankful Thursday!

I'm really thankful today for many reasons. I'll share several with you.

T-That I lost 4 pounds this week on Weight Watchers.
H-Having friends over this weekend. Pictures will come!
A-A husband who loves me no matter what!
N-Neat to see how God works in small ways, including my students.
K-Knowing that I serve a God who is jealous and wants all of me.
S-Sunday!!! Praying that friends will join us for church on Sunday.

These are just a few things that I am thankful for today!

I Thessalonians 5:18
"In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus concerning you."

Another New Recipe!

This weekend I found a 'Real Simple' recipe and I thought I would try it tonight.
Last-Minute Lasagna
(I only made 1/2 the recipe so we wouldn't have any left overs.)

1 24 or 26 oz jar of pasta sauce
2 18-20 oz refrigerated large cheese ravioli
1 10 oz box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed dry
1 8 pz bag shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 375. Spoon a thin layer of sauce over the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Cover with a single layer of ravioli. Top with half the spinach, half the mozzarella, and a third of the sauce. Repeat with another layer of ravioli and the reamining spinach, mozzarella, and half the remaining sauce. Top with another layer of ravioli and the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and bak for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes more.

Makes 6 servings.
I'm going to make this again soon. It was easy and healthy!

New Recipe

Today was a gloomy day as far as the weather goes. We woke up to gray skies and tornado watches. So I thought to brighten the day I would try a new recipe. As I mentioned last week, I have joined Weight Watchers so I'm being very careful in what I am eating. Last week I received some recipes, so I thought I would try one of those for dinner tonight. It was tasty and even Mike liked it. Here is the recipe for Mexican Meatloaf.

Cooking Spray
1/2 lb extra lean ground beef
1/2 lb lean ground turkey breast
2 large egg whites
1 cup cornbread stuffing-dry mix
1 med. chopped onion
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
4 oz. canned green chili peppers, diced
8 oz. canned enchilada sauce

Preheat oven to 375. Coat a broiler pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix beef, turkey, egg whites, stuffing mix, onion, chili powder, cumin chilies, and half of enchilada sauce together. Shape into an oval with your hands and place on prepared broiler pan. Cook for 1 hour, top with remaining enchilada sauce and bake for 5 minutes more. Slice into 6 pieces and serve. This recipe is only 3 points a slice for Weight Watchers! Enjoy!

Easter Weekend

We celebrated Easter weekend with Mike's Family. His Grandfather is not doing well, so the entire family was able to come to Grandma's for Easter. We had lots of fun together. Saturday was a normal day at Grandma's, except for the "out to eat" part. We went to Cody's Roadhouse for an early dinner. Off to Wally World to buy eggs so some could be dyed, filled and hunted.


Sunday, Mike and I headed to the early service and Pastor Lancaster did a wonderful job teaching about why we can believe that the resurrection is true. After the service, we came home to get Cooper--we're not welcome at Grandma's unless Cooper is with us! Mike's parents hid eggs outside while we were inside with the blinds closed. We all had our bags and were ready to hung! The little kids got a 1 minute start. We had lots of fun. That was the first time I have been on an egg hunt in many years!


I was amazed that we all found about the same number of eggs, kids and adults. (It was really fun b/c some of the eggs had money in them!) A funny moment was when Cooper was hunting and he spotted a hard boiled egg and left his mark on it! We laughed and laughed! Then, when we counted up the eggs, we were still missing about 4 eggs. Mike's dad told us for every egg we find now, we get one dollar! They were all found very quickly--Mike and I both found one, so we got two more dollars!!! We went to visit Grandpa, but he was taking a nap so we didn't want to disturb him. We came back to Grandma's and Easter dinner was almost ready. What a feast! Grandma knows how to cook!

We had a great Easter. I was reminded today that Easter should not be celebrated one day a year, but every day for that is why we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ!
Happy Easter!

Thankful Thursday!

Thursday is beginning to be my favorite day of the week. I look forward to what I am going to post on "Thankful Thursday". Even last night at dinner, Mike asked me if I knew what I was going to post for Thursday. Honestly, I don't know what I'm going to write about until I start writing. For several months, I have been praying that I would see the blessings God gives me every day. On Thursday's, I have been reflecting over the week, but it usually is a blessing from today.

I am thankful for our financial situation. A little more than 2 years ago, Mike started listening to Dave Ramsey on talk radio. I started listening as well and we started his Total Money Makeover and we are debt free. We did not call into his radio show and yell, "We're debt free!", but we celebrated on our own. Back in the Fall of 2008 we went to see Dave Ramsey Live with some friends from school.(I'm looking for the pictures we took.) There were 3 couples and as of December 2008 all of us are debt free. I am so thankful that we got our finances under control and now the only debt we have is our house! Being financially responsible has allowed us to keep our Disney World annual passes, enjoy frequent trips to Orlando, and flying to South Carolina.

Now, I know you are wondering what does this have to do with me being thankful today? I am a lifetime member at Weight Watchers(WW) and I have struggled to attend and stay at my lifetime goal for several years. So today, I went back to join Weight Watchers. I was able to join monthly because our finances are in order. This will allow me to have easy access to recipes and other 'etools' to help me reach my goal. I will be adding my weekly weight loss (even if I gain) to my Thursday post. I'm thankful that I can use WW as a tool to take care of my body.

Psalm 107:1 "Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting." What are you thankful for today?


P.S. Why does Tigger bounce?
Because he doesn't want to land on Pooh, you know 'Winnie the Pooh'.

Answer to Joke

What do you call a fairy that stinks?

STINKERBELL

Happy Hump Day!

Why does Tigger always bounce?

Disney Joke!

I know you have been waiting by the computer all day to find out the answer to my trying to make you laugh.

Why did Peter Pan fly?
Because he could never, never land!

Ha Ha Ha! Now wasn't that just the funniest thing you have heard today. The Bible even says in Proverbs 17:22: “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” I hope this was able to cheer your heart today. Now here is my next Disney joke! I will answer it tomorrow.

What do you call a fairy that stinks?

More Spring Break 2009

FYI: Sorry for the long post!
Since Mike was able to take Thursday and Friday off, we headed to Orlando for a long weekend. We had so much fun and many memories! Thursday and Friday we enjoyed going to the Happiest Place on Earth, Walt Disney World. It's our home away from home. We people watch and ride our favorite rides: Pirates, Buzz Lightyear, Toy Story Mania, Wedway People Mover (I don't even know if that is the real name, but that is what my family has always called it.), and the Jungle Cruise. I know you may be thinking--the jungle cruise--That has always been a favorite ride of mine. I always look forward to how our tour guide is going to be. I love the dry humor and the "stupid" jokes. I learned some new Disney jokes, so I thought I would write the the joke and have you try and guess the answer. The next day I will reveal the answer!

Here's the first joke: Why does Peter Pan always fly?




Friday was a very eventful day! We received a text from a friend who inspects carpets and Disney had called him to inspect the carpets at the Treehouse Villas. These villas will be part of the Saratoga Springs Vacation Club this summer! He knew we were over there and wanted to know if we wanted to earn some extra cash and have a new job experience on our resumes. (Not that we are looking for jobs--I hope. . .) We had to pick up a few things from a nearby store that has everything, so that we could do our job correctly!! So Friday morning, we woke up to a thunderstrom and rain. We made it to the Treehouses and we were told that we wouldn't need hard hats, but that was not the case. After a few phone calls and driving around for a bit, we were able to "inspect the carpet" in one of the villas. We had fun and even took a few fun pictures! :-) The Treehouses are very nice and make us want to get the Disney Vacation Club!!! (I walked in my classroom this morning and what did I find--my very own yellow hard hat! I'm going to keep it in my car, you never know when I'll need one!)

The Flower and Garden Show is going on at EPCOT right now and the flowers and toparies are beautiful! The have "Flower Power" concerts on the weekends during this time of year and we went to see 'The Turtles:Flo and Eddie'. (They sing "So Happy Together" and many more hits from the 60's.)


Saturday evening we went to my aunt and uncle's house in Orlando and had a delicious dinner. They live on Lake Windermere(Tiger Woods lives on a lake connecting to Lake Windermere), so we went down there for the sunset. We missed it by a couple of minutes, but we were still able to get some beautiful pictures.


On Saturday my parents arrived with my sister and neice. We had a fun time watching Maggie enjoy Disney World for the 2nd time--and she's only 9 months old! We enjoyed a nearby mall on Saturday and dinner with my aunt and uncle. Sunday we headed to EPCOT for a day full of flowers and fun!


Maggie loves to have her picture taken! And I love taking her picture!

Thankful Thursday!

I am thankful today for Mike and his job! He got Thursday and Friday off so that he could have a spring break too! I am sure I'm going to enjoy our time together. Thanks Mike for taking the time off to spend with me (and my family). I love you!

Spring Break 2009

I'm on Spring Break this week, so I thought I would write about a few of my highlights. This is only Wednesday, so I'm sure I will have more to share.

I started my Spring Break off with dinner with some cute friends! We went to Cheddar's in Clearwater. They have good food at a reasonable price.
On Monday, I had to go to the doctor for my once a month blood work. I haven't heard about my numbers yet, so "no news is good news". I did some spring cleaning around the house that way the rest of the week I could enjoy myself!




Tuesday and Wednesday morning I have walked on the beach. I have been amazed at what I have seen. I didn't take my camera on Tuesday, but wished I would have. So when I walked on Wednesday I wasn't going to forget to bring my camera. The only thing that I couldn't capture was the dolphins that were swimming. I would look out and the fins would pop up, walk some more and then look and the fins would pop up. It's almost like I had company on my walk. I was reminded of how God cares for the birds and he cares for me. Then I saw these sand sculptures and thought about the many talents God has given each of us. Finally, I saw this group of birds. I was in shock that I not only passed them once, but twice. This group of birds were all the same, but I was in awe of the orange beaks. They reminded me of penguins and I wondered if there were still there because they couldn't fly. (I know they aren't penguins, but they made me go, "hmmm".) I know these thoughts aren't much, but what do you expect from someone on vacation.

Happy April Fool's Day! I do have one funny memory from this day. When I was in high school, I had a close friend who loved to play soccer. Him and his buddy thought it would be great to play an April Fools joke on me. His buddy called my house in the evening and told me that my friend had broken his leg playing soccer and was in the hospital and wanted me to come visit him. I went and asked my parents and they said it was too late and that I could go visit him tomorrow. I told the buddy this, but that didn't end the conversation. So my dad agreed to take me to the hospital. This threw my friend and his buddy for a loop, because they wanted to come to my house and the joke would come out. They ended up telling me on the phone, because they didn't want my dad to drive me to the hospital to find out it was a joke! Just wondering if anyone else has a April Fools memory?!?!?

I will be writing more, but that's it for now. Watch out--it's Fool's Day!