Happy Homemaker Monday

Hello dear Friends!

Happy Monday to you. 💗

I can't believe we're already to the part of August where my Annie is beginning to pack up and head back to her college in FL. Her boyfriend Kristopher was up visiting and just went back to FL last week. She is leaving later this week and I'm not ready for my sweet baby Girl to go. But we were able to have a lovely 1:1 weekend together this past weekend. 

An old family friend was visiting Matt's folks at the lake so he felt like it would be good for him to go see them...and he wanted to let Annie & I have good girlie time. He's such a thoughtful sweetheart.😍  So Annie & I had a great time hanging out, watching shows, playing cards, planning her new apartment, and we may have even done a bit more shopping too. 😉

Saturday night I went to mass, and there was a scary moment. One of the parishoners had a medical emergency during the service. Father didn't miss a beat though. He led us in a rosary and we said prayers for that person as they waited for the ambulance to come. We then continued mass after that and I just pray that the person is okay. 

Then last night my former SIL, Julia,  (the one that carried Annie for us) came over for dinner so we could have a catch up with her before Annie leaves too. I made a big Italian themed dinner (Julia is traveling there next year!) and then we played some ladderball in the yard and had dessert on the deck. Obviously, she's an extra special Auntie and if you click here you can read a bit about our special story. 

It was so fun to hear about things in her world. Her oldest son (Annie's cousin) just got married. My kiddos were at the wedding too. She also just bought her own home and is having it renovated. She divorced my ex's brother several years ago. She shared about her folks and siblings too. And she is now in the dating world and it was fun to hear about those adventures as well.  Overall she just seems so healthy and happy and I'm so glad we've stayed in contact. She wants me to go check out her new place once it's all done. 😊

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

 

iced protein coffee

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

errands, Annie's hair appt, help Annie with final laundry and packing up, check-in meeting with the designers and construction for our future bathroom reno, yard work Matt & I want to do, hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

That I'm so excited to see where this year leads Annie...but also my heart hurts thinking of her going. She is my baby and I'm sure you fellow moms understand that. 

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

catching up with an old friend while sipping good wine and having yummy nibbles 

CURRENTLY READING

The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower volumes 1&2 (I was bad about reading last week - need to finish these)

 

ON THE TV TODAY:

We have been all over the place with shows and have mainly been watching old and new episodes of Big Brother. Ted Lasso is back (yay!) and we watched the first episode of that. Also, I think the Pack plays preseason football this week so we will watch some of that too. I may start Seeking Persephone

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY - naan bread pizzas with mini pepperonis & hot honey (a rare occasion Annie will eat meat), leftover pasta & salad from last night - we also have some peach pie leftover I made yesterday to have a la mode

TUESDAY - orange dijon grilled chicken, roasted red potatoes, lemony asparagus (a couple of Annie's fave side dishes)

WEDNESDAY - probably eat up any leftovers or if Annie requests anything

THURSDAY -  Mexican street corn tacos

FRIDAY - maybe out for dinner

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

hopefully read, hang with Annie, work in the yard

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

 

FROM THE CAMERA:

Before Kris headed back home we took a pontoon ride out on Lake Superior - you can tell the FL boy thought it was a bit chilly though. Lol 

The rest of the pics below: some summer scenes from around the house, a couple of cute black cat Halloween decorations I found when shopping with Annie, green beans finally ready for picking from our garden, and Annie did some fun and crazy gel nail work on me. 

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflicts all over the world and anyone living in war & fear, especially everything going on in the middle east right now. For peace and unity in this country, especially from hate and shootings or violence.  For anyone sick, suffering, in pain, fear, loneliness etc ... that God bring them comfort and peace. 

For the Lord's love and peace to fill all ❤️'s.

For Christ's Light and Love to cast out the darkness everywhere and help the world find its way to loving our neighbors as ourselves. 🙏🏻

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I hope you have a great week ahead! 

I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Wednesday Wonder

 

Hello Friends!

How's the week going so far? I hope you're having sunny, but not too hot, lovely days. 

It's been sunny and warm here. It was in the 80's yesterday!! Today in the 70's and I'm going walking with my bestie Mrs. C and her sweet granddaughter in a bit. 

With the hot weather yesterday it awoke all the little peepers and they were singing away last night. I'll share a little video below. 

I've been out soaking up this late summer warmth and goodness. But don't worry, my fellow Autumn enthusiasts, my heart is still right here:

🍁🧡💛

But last night the peepers were loud and proud and it sure felt like summer yet. I still have pots of flowers and lanterns on the deck...though many of the flowers are fading now. Here's the peepers if you want to give a listen:

Whether you're clinging to summer, or embracing Fall with open arms...wishing you blessings and peace. 

xoxo

Happy Homemaker Monday (on a Tuesday)

Hello, happy Tuesday, and Happy September to you Friends!!

🍎📚🍁🌻🧡

Yay, we've begun the "BER" months...the best months of the year in my opinion. I love the Autumn season so much. And it's the season of our wedding anniversary (1st one under our belt very soon!) ❤️ 

And then all the fun holidays also show up under this time frame too. Not to mention the beauty of changing leaves, cooler temps, and cozy hibernation with the ones we love. 

Did you have a lovely weekend? (holiday Labor Day one for my friends in the states) We did and that's why I'm posting late. We were at the lake cottage until last night. We went up and helped Matt's folks out some more. His Dad is healing well from his hip replacement, which is wonderful! And it was actually lovely weather this time so we were in the lake pontooning and swimming! Matt's Mom and I did almost a 2 hour workout in the lake. 💪🏻 It felt great! 

I have been enjoying a lot this summer and fell off from tracking my calories and working out as often. Matt has still been doing great and has kept off his goal weight which was losing 30-35 lbs. I have maintained my initial 12-15 lb weight loss...but I want to lose far more. 

So I made a pact with myself to move every day this month. Even if not always in a miles kind of way (like I did in my workout this AM), even if it just involves toning or yoga or going golfing.  Just doing something that benefits my physical well being in some way every day. And I'm logging all of it. Calories, exercise, water etc. The ways I have always lost weight is when I keep track, hold myself accountable, and do a calorie deficit and maintaining it. The benefits are not only weight loss but my joints and arthritis hurt less; I sleep better; my brain feels better; and I can do all the things I enjoy doing without pain (ie: go on long walks, golf etc). 

Don't get me wrong...I never stop enjoying baking, meal planning, cooking yummy things. Especially with the fun baking season ahead! But I keep track of it all and make sure my calories stay below a certain amount in each day. 

 

 

 

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

hot protein coffee (no more iced for me...yay cozy season!) with 

sugar-free cookie butter flavoring and almond milk, part of a puff built brownie protein bar 

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

dinner with my Mom & step Dad, bank & other errands related to my last name change things (I finally got my license & social security card in my new married name, yay!), get groceries, finish my wedding scrapbook before our anniversary so I can add anniversary page, start prepping for Fall and decorations (Autumn chores of cleaning windows, dryer vent from outside etc), hospice work

THINKING ABOUT: 

Matt's ex-wife's cousin is an art teacher. She had the recent Annunciation school/church shooter (Robert/Robin) in her class many years ago. She posted this on FB and had a lot of incite to share about things. I found it very moving and I think she brings up some great points if you'd like to read...

THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY:

Sipping hot tea on a chilly day while watching out the window as it rains and leaves swirl in the wind.

CURRENTLY READING

I've decided to finish all the Dream Harbor series before moving on to my other books. I finished another one and I think I only have 2 more to go in the series :) 

ON THE TV TODAY:

 Americas Got Talent, The Office, Big Brother,The Last Kingdom, I think we may both watch the House of Guiness when it comes out later this month (I think on Netflix)

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY -  ate at the lake

TUESDAY -  pickle pizza on whole wheat crust, broccoli slaw

WEDNESDAY - maybe protein pasta with marinara and Italian chicken sausage, veggies

THURSDAY - I think we will do dinner with my Mom & step Dad that we didn't do last week and bring them something 

FRIDAY - maybe out for dinner?

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

work on fun projects, go for long walk with Hubby, read

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

I saw this on social media and think I want to try it this season: they steeped a tea bag in their oatmeal. I like to have oatmeal once in a while when it gets cold outside. And I think it would be so neat to add more flavor along with the boiling water into easy oats. For example, steep a chai tea in a an apple cinnamon oatmeal. Or steep earl grey in berry flavored oats and add a little splash of almond milk. Yum! 

FROM THE CAMERA:

Ten Mile Lake (that our cottage sits on) is so clear. The first pic is looking down off the dock about 5-6 ft down. 

Such a lovely day for pontooning. Ruby LOVES the boat and she also loves snuggling with her Mom. ;) 

There's an area on the lake with a sandbar and families love to anchor there as it's shallow and they picnic and have their kiddos swim there etc. You can see the line up of boats there. 

Of course when we got back home Bubba was full of "I missed you" lovies and snuggles. I had made some yummy meals and treats for the weekend...including these banana split cookies that I will share the recipe again this week.  

We stopped in at a furniture store having a Labor Day sale and I got these cute wood mushrooms for Fall. We also purchased a lovely new Amish dining room set that will get delivered in the future. The set we have now was one I bought quickly after my divorce for something new. It was a cheaper set and the chairs haven't held up well at all. It was time to get something sturdy that will last us a long time! 

Still completing our wedding scrapbook. I've been putting in our engagement story, all of the wedding details including our invite and other keepsakes and even our wedding vows. I will share it when it's all done. I plan to take pics of each of our anniversaries and add that page each year. 💝

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflicts all over the world and anyone living in war & fear. For peace and unity in this country, especially from hate and shootings or violence.  For anyone sick, suffering, in pain, fear, loneliness etc ... that God bring them comfort and peace. For real change to happen to prevent another shooting from ever happening in our schools again. For all the students, faculty and families suffering from the Annunciation shooting. 

For Christ's Light and Love to cast out the darkness everywhere and help the world find its way. 🙏🏻

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

Sending you my love dear Friends...and wishes for a wonderful rest of your week. 

I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.