Lost, But Holding Hands

It was a big day for us.  First I waded through the craziness that is the AXS website to buy Garth Brooks tickets for his May concert.  Holy Moly...who knew waiting in a virtual waiting room could be so stressful.  But nevertheless we got tickets!  So excited!! I am hoping for a rendition of Shameless so Tyler can do an encore of his famous karaoke performance. Secondly, as I was leaving for the gym this afternoon I noticed a package on our front step.  Our first Tessemae's shipment arrived!  We have been craving some new sauces- especially BBQ- for a few weeks.  BBQ=sugar 99% of the time.  So we really struggled finding a brand in the stores we frequent.  Any suggestions?  We are happy to continue buying Tessemae's but it would be nice to not pay shipping every time! This week is going to be BANANAS.  For real.  Ryan has a Parents Night Out event at his karate studio on Saturday that we are totally taking advantage o...

I'm sitting down to meal plan for next week (yes it takes me several days to put together a menu- I'm still practicing).  I grabbed my handy-dandy notebook- tell me you didn't just start humming the Blue's Clues song...just me?? okay-  and spent a few moments flipping through the menus I created over the last few weeks and got to thinking it might be handy for those of you wanting/needing some new recipes to have our favorites all in one place!  Be aware- none of these recipes are our own creation.  When available, I linked you to the original posting. Garlic Bacon Avocado Burgers These are so delicious and SO easy.  I've also made these burgers with chopped jalapeno- equally delicious but I usually half the meat and do part with jalapeno and half without so my kiddo has one without the heat.  I recommend making the bacon ahead of time, using your food processor to chop it into bits and store it in an airtight container until you are ready to use. ...

Today is the last day of my first Whole30 experience.  Lucky for me- I am on spring break, so I have ample time to reflect over what I've learned and where I am going next.                                                                   Why Whole30? A multitude of factors led me to jump headfirst into this journey.  First, we booked a beach house for the first week of June and the idea of getting into a bikini without getting into better shape made me shutter.  Beyond that, I had let food get the best of me.  Like most people, I am ...  was ... still am an emotional eater.  Sad, happy, excited, bored...you name the emotion and I'll tell you the perfect snack pairing.  I'm a snack sommelier.  When we were in the process of adopting Ryan in 2013-14, I gained a...

This past week we were blessed to take our third trip to Disney.  For those of you who are not Disney fanatics, let me fill you in: Disney=Magic It has to be exhausting to be a Disney cast member, because those people are on the top of their game 100 PERCENT OF THE TIME.  In my everyday life, I have my stuff together, on average, 25 percent of the time.  I can rarely keep my house clean, can't ever find my stuff, and I lose my cool more often than I would like to admit.  But in the time we have spent at Disney, those employees have modeled extreme grace, joy, and compassion.  They look for opportunities to serve and go above and beyond to make sure all  people feel special.  What a fantastic example of what would make our communities better place to be.  If only the magic of Disney would flow out into the greater community. We have found the joy at Disney to be contagious.  We have done the same thing every night we have spent at Disney- ...

When your best friend asks you to be her Matron of Honor you quickly say of course .  Then you watch and help where you can as her dreams become reality.  This weekend we were blessed to ring in the new year by celebrating the marriage of one of my oldest and dearest friends. If you know me at all , you know I HATE public speaking.  From the moment Vanessa asked me to be her Matron of Honor, I was excited for all of the awesome things it entailed- planning, bachelorette party, bridal shower, etc.  But I dreaded the idea of standing in front of a huge crowd to share my thoughts about the bride.  This is especially true because I figured there was no way I would be able to get through a toast without tears. Somehow I mustered the courage and delivered what I think was a coherent speech, but most of all I appreciate the the entire group of ladies helped me pull off a special surprise for Vanessa that she loved!  Because I know I was flustered and did not s...

Last year for Thanksgiving we were enjoying the most magical place on Earth.  Knowing that we couldn't swing Disney, but that we want to keep up the tradition of a family getaway over Thanksgiving break- we began to look for more localized options.  If Disney is the most magical place on Earth, then Branson is the Disney of the Midwest (or at least of southwest Missouri). Generally speaking, I don't like ideas that aren't my own and I really  don't like spending money on things I hadn't planned. So imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail while at work from Tyler detailing a trip that he had planned without my consultation.  Yikes.  Panic ensued.  As my blood pressure decreased, my excitement increased.  I did some Branson research because, unlike 99.9% of Missourians- I had only been to Branson one other time and didn't know enough to adequately  judge the amount of excitement appropriate for this "vacation". Needless to say, just as any...

we were on our way to independence to visit costco and get some birthday party supplies. it was rush hour traffic time. daylight savings time was over and at 5:30 it was already pitch black. ryan was having a difficult time following directions and became...shall we say..."'physically active" in the backseat of the truck. of course, this meant we needed to pull over and wait for him to be safe. after getting himself together i waited and waited for some kind soul to let us back onto the highway. i'm sure people were annoyed about letting me in and probably didn't want to. but sometimes we pull over during rush hour. we got to costco with our unhappy customer in tow. he was hellbent on getting into that over-sized cart and "going to sleep". he informed me to "leave him alone" and proceeded to--butt in the air--roll over and "go to sleep." we got all kinds of looks which were, probably somewhat, well deserved. as i pushed around the g...