It's Been a Year!

Hello dear Friends! 

Happy TGIF to you.

First of all, I want to send all my friends in the states my extra love and hugs. This country feels so full of chaos and violence lately. All of these recent horrible shootings just hurt my heart. I believe evil is running rampant and loving this chaos. The only real peace I find is in my Lord and believing in His promises. I continue to be a prayer warrior. I love on my friends and family that much more. And I try to put out positivity, peace, and love in everything I do. I hope we can find a way to love our neighbors as ourselves. I hope we don't put people into boxes of one political party or another. That we don't judge and put our thoughts into "I'm right and you're wrong". I hope instead we find ways to move forward and work TOGETHER to heal and fix the issues in this country. 

Thank you for letting me share that moment from my heart. 🙏🏻💗

 I'm getting to this post late because I was giving time at the hospice facility. There sure are lots of moments of Fall around there. Here are some pics I caught:

But what I wanted to post and share a little today is about the fact that Matt and I celebrate our 1st Anniversary this weekend! Yay! 🎉❤️

I can't believe how fast that year has flown. It's been so wonderful and I guess time does fly when you're having fun. :) To be honest... I feel like I had some years there where my life was like in the movie the Wizard of Oz. Always feeling in kind of gloomy black and white. And then Matt came into my life and it was full blown technicolor! And it just gets brighter with each new day. He has brought such goodness, love and light to my world (& my kiddos too). I am so very grateful for the man he is and that I get to call him husband. I have never felt more seen, understood, loved and treasured by another human being. I love him SO MUCH! 

Thank you God for the gift of this amazing man and this marriage. 

Here are a few of my favorite photos from our day:

I loved everything about our day. It all felt so perfect. And one of my favorite memories was this....how beautiful the night became and how we gathered around a campfire together with our loved ones. Listening to music, chatting, laughing, and just taking it all in.  

My sweet Matthew just had these delivered for me. Aren't they stunning? I have always loved roses...but now sunflowers have my heart ever since they were such a big part of our wedding. 🌻💛

And they lived happily ever after...

Tonight we're going out on a date night with our besties, the C's. It will be so nice to get catch up time with them! 

 Tomorrow night we'll go out for dinner for our anniversary (which is actually on Sunday). And then in October we will be staying a weekend up at the resort where we were married. It should be beautiful with Fall color then. Feeling so blessed. 🙏🏻

Thank you for letting me go down memory lane and share. It feels extra special being the 1st anniversary. And I'm so grateful to all of you for sharing in this journey with me all along! Your friendship, support & love has meant so much!! 

Wishing you all an amazing weekend ahead. 

xoxo

Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Monday Friends!

How are things going in your neck of the woods? 

Around here we got a little snow late last week...but it's already almost fully melted. It's supposed to be lovely today. Then snow tomorrow. Cold Wednesday and then start to get nice again. And so goes the roller coaster of the northwoods weather these days. Lol

Did you have a lovely weekend? It was a fun one here. Friday we went to our wedding venue! My bestie Mrs. C went with us too. We walked around with our wedding coordinator there, and got a tour of where we would be married and where we would stay on the property (as well as friends and family that will stay), and we got to do a food tasting. It was all so wonderful!! It's so beautiful up there along the Lake Superior shore. The buildings on the property are all like Scandinavian lodges. So charming!! 

We also got to taste samples from the bakery we're going to use for our wedding cake and they were awesome! It's all sure making it feel real and our Autumn wedding will be here before we know it. ❤️ 

Then we went to our besties the C's daughter's volleyball tourney. Watched several games and cheered them on to being champs!! And then went out for yummy Mexican dinner at one of our new faves (as it's a new one that opened in our town). And did lots of our usuals the rest of the weekend and snuck in some rest time and watched a few movies. It was another wonderful weekend in the books. Now on to this week ahead...

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

low cal strawberry yogurt with some of the chex cereal crushed on top and berries, coffee & natural almond creamer

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

errands, Matt's eye surgery (on the first eye - next one is in March), senior soiree committee work for Annie's school, bereavement calls & cards (hospice work from home), hospice work at facility, helping my Mom

THINKING ABOUT:  

Matt's eye surgery tomorrow. Praying all will go smoothly and it's amazing to think that after his 2 surgeries he won't need glasses anymore! Crazy! 🙏🏻💕

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

I still didn't get to Easter/Spring decorations due to shoulder & back stuff yet. But doing better every day - working out gently and doing therapy stretches and hopefully I will get out Spring decor next weekend. Maybe even start this week. 🐰🌸

CURRENTLY READING

The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer

ON THE TV TODAY:

Jeopardy, Shark Tank, Ghosts, LPBW, The Good Wife, The Rookie, The Good Doctor, Survivor starts this week

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY -  veggie, cheese & chive egg scramble, oven baked bacon, french toast (for Annie), breakfast potatoes, fruit

TUESDAY - cordon bleu stuffed chicken breasts, baked potatoes, salad

WEDNESDAY -  brats w/grilled onions, garlic & herb boursin cheese cauliflower bake, raw veggies & dip

THURSDAY - tacos

FRIDAY - out for dinner?

  

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

go walking, do yoga, read

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

FROM THE CAMERA:

Matt was going through some old pics and found this one and I had to grab a pic of - he was such a little cutie and his folks look so young! 

furry baby love - as you can see Ruby just got her haircut too 💕

was helping my Mom last week and she commented she likes when my hair is up and the dark underneath mixes with the blonde. Lol

My bestie caught some pics when we went up to the wedding venue. It was so chilly that day, but will hopefully be beautiful there this early Fall on our big day! The top pic is Matt with the wedding coordinator, and the bottom pic shows right behind Matt & I is the exact spot where we'll get married... by those trees. :) 

The recent snowy day we got was pretty - but I'm glad it didn't last! 

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 His Light and Love to cast out the darkness everywhere.  For healing for both of Matt's parents as they continue to deal with their health issues.  For Matt's upcoming eye surgery. 🙏 

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

I hope you enjoy a bright, sunny & positive week ahead my Friends! Blessings to you. I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.

Happy Homemaker Monday

Happy Monday from the northwoods lovely Friends! 🍁 ☀️ 

It's a nice bright sunny one today. It got COLD last night. Had to turn the heat on for the first time. We had frost warnings all around the area. Looks like steady temps in the 50's for highs for the foreseeable future...and I'm here for it. 😊 I'm ready for it to fully feel like Autumn now. :) I missed doing extra posting last week because I was busy and looks like a busy week ahead too. I have birthday lunch dates with friends or family every day this week! I feel like such a lovely spoiled girlie. (my bday is this coming weekend) So I'm not sure how much posting I'll get done this week too. But next week should be more normal. 

Did you have a lovely weekend? It was such a wonderful one here!! Friday afternoon Matt and I were productive and did yard work, I decorated outside, and Matt cleaned out my garage - boy did it need that! And he leaf blowed the driveway and all around the house.  Then Friday night Matt & I went out for a lovely dinner. Saturday we went up the north shore and had an amazing brunch! Went to our favorite rocky beach to look for rocks. Matt learned about rocks from his Grandpa and has a thing for them. I got him a rock polisher last year so he can shine them up. His Grandpa used to make things from the rocks he polished...not sure if Matt will get into all of that? Lol We visited some gift shops, a candy shop 😋, and a smokehouse shop (Matt loves smoked fish). My Dad and Bro loved enjoying some of that too over the weekend. 🐠 

We also ran our usual errands. Late in the day we grabbed a big pretty mum and some pumpkins to decorate the front of the house. Then that night we went out to dinner with the Conley's and then they came over to hang out. We had a fire out on the deck complete with big fuzzy blankets to stay extra warm and just gabbed away. Then we played cards til the wee hours. It was such a perfect day!! Last night we did birthdays with my Dad & step Mom and Brother and SIL (my bro is Sept., I'm this month and my step Mom is November) My Dad and step Mom are heading to AZ for the winter in another week - so we were packing it all in now. We had a fun pizza dinner and I made extra nibbles, had dessert, watched football, visited and played games. Just one of those perfectly wonderful Fall weekends.

Tonight my Packers play so Matt and I are going to make a yummy dinner and cheer away! 

        

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:

yogurt, coffee with vanilla almond milk creamer

ON MY TO DO LIST THIS WEEK:

Annie's volleyball games, her hockey captain's practices, schedule conferences, work for volleyball senior night plans, my many lunch dates  this week Lol 😆, time with my Mom, home projects, hospice work, and a special dinner for one of my main hospice supervisors as she is retiring now. 

THINKING ABOUT:  

how very blessed I am - my grateful heart is filled to the brim 💗 

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE

It's all clean and tidy from the party here last night - I finished up dishes leftover this AM. Sun is shining through the windows and shining on Bubba laying on the top of the couch. Ruby is snoring as she's laying across the same couch. Lol 

CURRENTLY READING

Fall magazines

ON THE TV TODAY:

 When Calls the Heart, Big Brother, Survivor, Shark Tank, Jeopardy, Better Call Saul, Halloween Baking Championship, The Morning Show, Great British Baking Show, Love is Blind (new season)

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:

    MONDAY -  taco salads

TUESDAY -  pork chops, apple compote (going to make with apple butter my daughter got for me at a recent festival), and sheet pan fall veggie medley cooked with manchego & garlic roaster seasonings 

WEDNESDAY -  french onion soup topped with french bread crouton covered in provolone, and this Autumn salad with my homemade honey dijon dressing

THURSDAY -  leftovers

FRIDAY -  slow cooker BBQ meatballs, brown rice side dish (I boil it in chicken broth) with toasted pecans and dried cranberry, and sheet pan roasted brussel sprouts w/onion & balsamic roaster seasoning and tossed with dried cranberry and bacon pieces 

* Fall is here and I'm getting back into the cozy kitchen mode even more - yay! 😋 

TO RELAX THIS WEEK I WILL:

go for walks, watch Annie's game, do crafts or bake

TIPS OR SOMETHING TO SHARE:

FROM THE CAMERA:

Our furry babies. The pic of Bubba is down in our lower level where I was down doing a workout on the treadmill, he was my coach. 😂 

Why I need to workout - the amazing brunch we had up the north shore began with sharing these cinnamon mini donuts drizzled with caramel sauce and bacon. Holy yum! 

I had pesto egg benedict (pesto hollandaise) and breakfast potatoes - absolute treat!! 😋 

A stop at a candy shop - we shared with the wealth with friends and family as we didn't need treats after that brunch! Lol

💗 💗 💗 

Our wheelbarrow of goodies to bring back home 🎃 

Our cozy fire on the deck included the furry babies sitting in the window watching. Lol (Ruby did come out later). If you look in the corner of the fire pic my girlfriend's hands are visible - they are in big white fuzzy mittens! Lol I brought a big pile of warm fuzzy blankets up and we bundled up and the fire felt wonderful. We sipped hot pumpkin chai tea too. 

Our stone address sign matches the house- I have a white geranium hanging in there so I put the white pumpkin next to it.

PRAYER LIST:

 For an end to the conflict in the Ukraine and Israel and of all parts of the world living in war & fear. For peace and unity in this country, especially from hate and shootings or violence.  For anyone sick, suffering, in pain or fear... that God bring them comfort and peace. For His Light and Love to cast out the dark everywhere. For safe travels for my Dad and step Mom soon. 

PRAYER, INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OR DEVOTIONAL:

Have a wonderful week ahead! I'm sharing this with Sandra of Diary of a SAHM for Happy Homemaker Monday.