Hello everyone! I hope you woke up this morning with a renewed sense of hope and happiness for the year to come! I know I did. This year will be (has to be) SO much better than 2011.

If you’re resolutions or goals for the new year include losing a few pounds or getting fit, be sure to check out the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans brand new challenge. It’s awesome, I promise!

Every day (okay, maybe not every day) I think about this little blog space of mine. I think about how I don’t write here often enough even though I have approximately 428 posts rolling around in my head at any given time.

Today I talked to my friend Amanda and we ruminated on the fact that while we both have plenty to write, we just don’t. And it makes us sad and a little bummed that we’re not writing those wonderful things so one day we can look back and realize we had a ridiculous amount of time on our hands. Or not.

So we made a pact, without the blood, that we would write on our blogs this week. And then I remembered that Heather of the EO had this amazing thing called Just Write, and that’s exactly what I need to do. JUST WRITE.

This morning I woke up to the sound of rain on my metal roof. It was glorious because I love the sound of rain, but also because we need the rain so badly. I drifted off and woke again several times to the sound of rain. It was a nice way to start my day.

My children are incredibly smart. It’s exhausting.

I think one of the reasons I don’t write much here is that I don’t have as much time to read other blogs. And I feel guilty writing here because I always get a handful of comments from some of my best friends, and I realize I haven’t read their blogs in forever. Guilt. Maybe I should blog and turn off the comments? Nah. That wouldn’t be much fun. I guess if I’m going to blog, then I need to carve out time to read blogs. Do unto others…

I love my friends. I’m very fortunate to have more than a handful of the very best. I heard somewhere that most women have only 2 really good friends. You know, they kind of friends you would call to bail you out of jail. You know, if you ever got arrested. I’m happy to say that I have many more than 2 people I could call. Many more.

That’s all for now. Thanks so much for reading!

Linking up with Just Write from the Extraordinary Ordinary Heather. Love her.

Molly came into my life 11 years ago, on my 24th birthday. She left my life just shy of my 36th birthday. Those 11 years were filled with some of the most important events in my life. Engagement, home-ownership, marriage, pregnancy, children, moving, and many, many vacations.

Molly was there for all of it.

Sadly, Molly left us before she had to because of cancer. We are so lucky to have so many wonderful memories of amazing time spent with our beloved family dog. My words cannot adequately express how much I love her and miss her everyday. She was always by my side – from sun up till sun down.

Melissa knows how much she meant to me, and for my birthday she gifted me with an amazing token to remind me of Molly.

I have such wonderful friends.

I’ll leave you with some of my favorites of Molly. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of photos of her. Like I said, she was always nearby.

Photo by Amanda Wintenburg Photography

Photo by Amanda Wintenburg Photography

That’s sidewalk chalk on her hind quarter ;)

Photo by Amanda Wintenburg Photography

Photo by Amanda Wintenburg Photography

Happy Trails, Molly Dingo. I’ll miss you forever.

Molly Dingo Mensi
1999-2011

Well here we are with week 2 of menu planning my butt off. I’m kinda on hiatus from weighing, so it’s hard to say if my butt is getting smaller, but I have been SO MUCH LESS stressed this week. Less stress and a planned out menu = less mindless eating! Score :)

Since school started, it’s been pretty busy around these parts. I drive an average of 100 miles per day during the week, between grocery shopping, soccer, school, and other activities. I know, it’s a lot, but it’s what I have to do!

We have soccer practice on Tuesday and Thursday nights from 5:45 – 7 p.m., and BJ doesn’t like to eat dinner beforehand because he’s afraid he’ll puke like that other kid on his team! So on those nights, we eat dinner as soon as we walk in the door at 7:15 p.m., something I’ve made ahead or Subway that we grabbed on the way home.

Wednesday nights BJ has Awanas (kids’ bible study), and doesn’t get home until close to 7 again. On these nights, I also try to have something ready to go as soon as we walk in the door. Either in the crockpot or ready to be heated up.

We also have 2 birthdays in my family this week (9/24 & 9/25) and we’re going out of town, so Saturday (and next Sunday) will be dine out days.

So here is my carefully planned out menu for this week!

Sunday, 9/18: Chicken Cutlets with Creamy Dijon Sauce, with angel hair pasta and steamed green peas.

This meal is on the regular rotation at our house, and because we love capers I toss a few tablespoons of them in this dish because they just work with it! The kids love it and the husband loves it and I love it too. I found it in my Cooking Light magazine earlier this year.

Monday, 9/19: Ellie Krieger’s Mom’s Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans

This isn’t actually the recipe I use, but because mine is in my head and not measured out I found this one that’s very similar! I do not use ground turkey, but opt for 96% lean ground beef. I also don’t put red peppers in mine. The mashed potatoes are from last week when I made a double batch and put half in the freezer!

Tuesday, 9/20: Bean and Cheese Quesadillas.

Plain and simple for after soccer. I use corn tortillas, slap on some canned refried beans and shredded cheddar, and throw them on my stovetop griddle until melty and golden brown. I’ll probably serve it with some salsa and sour cream and avocados.

Wednesday, 9/21: Loaded Baked Potatoes with leftover meatloaf and peas.

To make my baked potatoes extra yummy, I rub them in olive oil and dust them with sea salt. I forgo the foil wrap and just put them on a lined cookie sheet and bake at 450 for 60 minutes. The potatoes end up with a crunchy skin that everyone LOVES to eat! I top them with a little butter, sour cream, crumbled bacon, and cheddar cheese. We’ll have leftover meatloaf from Monday if we have room on our plates :)

Thursday, 9/22: Make-ahead English Muffin Pizzas, some kind of quick veggie, and  salad for me!

I take an English muffin split in half, spread some marinara (jarred) sauce, sprinkle some part-skim mozzarella, and top with diced pepperoni. You can make them earlier in the day, put them on a cookie sheet in the fridge, and then pull out and bake at 350* for 15ish minutes, or until cheese is bubbly on top.

Friday, 9/23 & Saturday, 9/24: We’ll be spending the weekend in San Antonio, so all of our meals will be out. For lunch we usually hit Jason’s Deli, we’ll be hitting a college football game on Saturday, and I know we’ll be doing pizza for lunch on Sunday. Sunday’s dinner will be my choice since it’s my birthday!

Sorry I don’t have more links this week! When it’s busy, I tend to fall back on recipes that don’t require much thought (while still maintaining some semblance of healthfulness).

Have a great week!

]]> http://www.real-life-adventures.com/2011/09/menu-planning-my-butt-off-with-the-sisterhood-918-924/feed/ 1 http://www.real-life-adventures.com/2011/09/menu-planning-my-butt-off-with-the-sisterhood-918-924/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RealLifeAdventures/~3/YainbeW2ORc/ http://www.real-life-adventures.com/2011/09/menu-planning-my-butt-off-with-the-sisterhood/#comments Sun, 11 Sep 2011 17:58:41 +0000 Christy http://www.real-life-adventures.com/?p=505

Over at the Sisterhood, we’ve recently begun menu planning! In effort to maintain my sanity, I’ve menu-planned sporadically in the past. I know it works, I just need to actually sit down and do it! So this weekend, I sat down and opened up Say Mmm, and got down to business!

Because my son is on the Feingold Diet, all of my recipes tend to be Feingold stage 2 friendly.

Sun, 9/11
Crispy Buttermilk Chicken
Mashed potatoes
Green beans

Mon, 9/12
Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo with steamed broccoli
I will use regular whole wheat fettuccine for this recipes, as opposed to the refrigerated pasta.

Tue, 9/13
Dinner out: Subway

Wed, 9/14
Hot Dogs with Mac N Cheese & Canned Green Beans
We eat Hebrew National hotdogs (they come in a reduced fat version), Annie’s Organic Mac n Cheese, and organic canned greens beans.

Thu, 9/15
Easy Fried Rice, served with steamed green beans

Fri, 9/16
Basic Pizza Crust Recipe for a homemade pizza. I sub 1/2 of the white flour for King Aurthur White Wheat flour to make the crust a little healthier! I use a basic jarred organic marinara sauce, shredded mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni.

Saturday, 9/17
Dinner OUT!

Breakfasts:
Savory Breakfast Muffins
Blueberry Muffins
Fruit and yogurt smoothies

If you’re a menu planner, you can link up over at the Sisterhood each Sunday

1. You can’t remember your url and you type it in wrong and some strange site shows up and you almost have a heart attack because you think you might have let your domain name expire and some weirdo snapped it up and is posting porn.
2. When you finally get it right (because you’re browser no longer has it all saved), you can’t remember your username and password.
3. And then you lock yourself out because you have too many failed attempts.
4. By the time you finally get logged in, you’ve completely forgotten what you came to post and you throw your arms up in despair and head for the liquor cabinet.

But I digress.

I haven’t posted here in so long. Many times I’ve thought I might come here and write, and then life got in the way. At least the life that’s been getting in the way has been good, and busy, and so fulfilling.

Our summer was awesome! Well, aside from the crippling Texas heat, which can kiss my nether regions (over and over again). And by awesome, I mean we sat inside with the blinds drawn and our a/c running non-stop 24/7. BJ blew through all the levels on his Lego Star Wars Clone Wars III game, and Mia watercolored her way through 2 easel pads of paper, and watched every episode of Jake and the Neverland Pirates 482 times. I might have read 42 books – which in reality is not a bad thing.

Really, we did a lot more than sit around in the dark like vampires. We took several road trips, visiting almost all the major (and not so major) cities in Texas, AND hit 5 states in a 24 hour period. Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas. It was a regular Griswold family vacation, except we never quite made it to Wally World!

Needless to say, I have mixed feeling about school starting yesterday. I’m grateful for the return of our routine, but I miss the lazy days of waking up without a care in the world.

I do have big plans for this Fall (hello Fall, you can show up anytime now. These 99 degree temps are really getting O-L-D).

After taking months off from running (because no one in their right mind runs in the Texas heat), I started the Couch 2 5K program today! Those 60 second runs were much easier than I thought they’d be. On October 22nd, I’ll be running in the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans Run The ‘Hood Virtual 5K, so I had to start somewhere! You should consider joining in! There’s plenty of time for you to train!

BJ is in soccer, and aside from the horrid heat (are you tired of hearing about it?), is LOVING it!

Mia will be in Mother’s Day Out 2 days a week staring the first week of September. Hello 8 hours a week for me!

And I plan to blog here more often. I know, I know! You’ve gotten used to not having to check in here, and I’m sorry to make more work for you, but it will be worth it. Trust me.

When you live in the country, and it’s hotter than hot, and your well pumps water into an above ground holding tank. Well, your water’s hotter than hot, too. Like, so hot you won’t be able to take a cold shower until October. If you’re lucky. The water is so hot, you don’t dare turn on the real hot water. You have to run your kids’ baths and let the water cool off before they can get in.

So in light of the fact I’m saving so much money because my water is naturally heated, it won’t matter one bit if I turn down the thermostat a few extra degrees, right?

I’m a little tired of the hot weather, already.

I was inspired at Fitbloggin’ by Jim Doran to get out and get some interesting shots. Fun angles. Something!

Today we had a field trip. It was fun.

I’m not feeling very wordy, so I’ll post a lot of pictures.

A nice surprise from an accidental shot.

Checking out a cayman

My new boa…..constrictor

Creamsicle Corn Snake

Turtle – can’t remember what kind!

It was fun. We held snakes, petted lizards, and swam the afternoon away.

Check baby check baby one two three four
Check baby check baby one two three
Check baby check baby one two
Check baby check baby one

Name that tune.

On Saturday I’m running a 1/2 marathon!

WHAT????

Did I just say that?

Yes.

It feels crazy. I feel under-prepared. I wonder if I have time to switch to the 5K race?

Deep down I know I can pull it off, but on the surface I am a little nervous because I really didn’t take my training very seriously. It’s going to be hard, and I’m not a big fan of hard. Seriously.

Lisa will be with me, so at least we’ll have fun chatting while we run. Right? Ann is doing the 5K and will be waiting when we cross the finish line! And my husband and kids *might* be there, too. Definitely something too forward too!

JUST SHAKE YA RUMP <—–for 13.1 miles. Yo.

p.s. I need some new music! Give me some ideas for my playlist, m’kay?

It is Spring, and that can only mean one thing. BUGS. Lots of creepy, crawly, fly-y bugs. All over the place. Now most of the time I’m fine with bugs. I might even like them a little (unless they dive bomb me and get caught in my hair. Because then? I scream and flail like Michael Jackson with my hair on fire). Tonight while I was sitting in the bathroom (yeah, I was peeing, but I thought it would sound nicer if I said I was ‘sitting’ in the bathroom) when I saw a huge, scary, hairy looking spider on the wall. Normally I would just let her go about her business, because I’m all down with spiders since Charlotte’s Web has been on heavy rotation in our house, but this spider was not friendly looking. I reached over and crushed that spider with a wad of toilet paper and said DIE. Okay, I said some other stuff, but I don’t want you to think I’m so desperate for conversation that I actually talked to a spider before I smashed it.

Changing gears….

BJ has a horrible rash covering 75% of his body. I’m pretty sure it’s eczema, and we’ll find out for sure when I take him to the dermatologist on Friday. The past few weeks have consisted of me spending hours online researching lotions and creams and then ordering said creams and applying said creams only to listen to my son scream and writhe in pain because said creams feel like I’m applying acid to his skin. *palm meet forehead* The other lovely thing we’re dealing with is peeling feet. His feet are peeling, cracking and bleeding, and his new hobby is to remove the peeling skin and, OMG I can’t believe I’m saying this because I know one day he’ll kill me, but he EATS the skin. And then I YELL at him because OMG it’s so disgusting. Like 10X more disgusting than eating boogers. I’m assuming, at least.

Dear Lord, please let the dermatologist have some answers because I cannot deal with writhing and screaming and skin eating for another day.

Changing gears yet again…..

Today Mia and I spent the day in the big city running big city errands. Like going to SUPER Target, which Mia thinks is SUPER, eating at Chipotle, which Mia is not at all impressed with (she gets that from her dad. DUMB), and getting groceries at the Mecca of all grocery stores: Whole Foods. I could seriously live there. I’ve looked into it, but they seriously do not have room. Have you seen how tiny the freaking aisles are?

So when we were eating at Chipotle…well, I was eating….Mia started making eyes at this man at the soda fountain. I swear to God she actually blushed when he busted her looking at him, and then she looked at me like OMG, Mom. This went on the entire time I scarfed down my burrito bowl and she totally ignored everything except the chips and guac. Before the man left, he stopped by our table and introduced himself to Mia and told her she was beautiful. I almost fell out of my chair because she actually batted her eye lashes at him and did that chin to shoulder with eyes raised look. SHE IS THREE.

I am in trouble.