Strawberry Picking 2015

Hello from Austin! I have to say I have not been to Texas in a loooongggg time.  It is 91 degrees with 95% humidity right now so I am melting every time I go outside.  A group of about fourteen of us flew out last night from Detroit and arrived late last night.

On my flight, I took advantage of the three hours without technology and finally read any part of a book for this month.  June has been a bit crazy for me between being busy and being sick.

Over the weekend we celebrate my mother-in-laws birthday by going Strawberry picking for the fourth year in a row.  

 

On Sunday morning, Justin and I got up around 7:30 to get out the door and make our way out to Spicer's Orchard.  All four years we have done strawberry picking, we have gone to Spicer's Orchard.  I really enjoy going there because they are reasonably priced and super convenient to use.  Plus the staff is super friendly.

Justin and I were a few minutes late, so we had to wait about 15 minutes for the tractor to come and get us.  Honestly I was a bit worried that the weather would not be good because the day before was the worse day we've had weather wise this summer.  

The day ended up being absolutely perfect for strawberry picking.  It was sunny with a few fluffy clouds but not too hot nor too humid.  We honestly could not have asked for more beautiful weather for strawberry picking.  And of course McKenna and J.P. ate a ton of strawberries.  Look how cute she is with strawberry all over her face and shirt.  I just love her.  

I love this tradition so much and look forward to doing it for many years to come!!

After the orchard we headed back to my in-law's house to make strawberry jam.  I was super excited to make the jam because I have never made jam before.  I did not realize that there was SO much work that went into making jam.  

I can't wait to get home from Austin so I can try some of our jelly!

Previous strawberry picking posts:

2014

2013

2012

This picture is from our first time going strawberry picking! My sister-in-law was pregnant for this round.  It's amazing how much has changed since then. 

I'd love to hear from you!

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Painting with a Twist: Girls Night Out

 Happy Friday Friends! I hope your week has been going well and you have some exciting things planned for this weekend.  Justin and I are going to my cousin's wedding on Saturday and Sunday is supposed to be beautiful so we will hopefully be spending some time outside.

Last Friday my sister-in-law, mother-in-law and I went to Painting with a Twist.  What's Painting with a Twist you ask? Let me tell you! 

You go a class with your friends/family and you re-create a painting from scratch.  The twist is that you can drink alcohol while you are making your artwork.  This is my third time going to Painting with a Twist and let me tell you, this class was hard.  I did not expect it to be so detailed and time consuming, but I am super glad we went!

  

Yay for a blank canvas! So fresh and so clean!

Getting the background started!

Add those clouds yo!

Next came the sidewalks and the buildings in the background.

Then came the buildings in the foreground - jeez this picture looks so dark! I swear it is not that dark in person.

Ta Da! Didn't they turn out great? Janelle added a little extra touch to her picture by making her umbrella purple and shirt pink.  I changed up my guys shirt to be blue since Justin wears blue all the time.  

This class took so long but it was soo much fun and I cannot wait to plan another girls night with Janelle and Marcy.

Question of the Day:

What fun things have you done with your mom/mother-in-law?

I'd love to hear from you!

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Easter Weekend... a little late

 Hi Friends! How have you been? I clearly have been super busy between work and spending time with friends and family over the past three weeks and I am so sorry I have neglected you all!

This year for Easter I attended three different events to celebrate Easter: Passover Seder Dinner, Easter Dinner with the In-Laws and Easter Dinner with my Family.

Every year my friend and her family host a Passover Seder dinner at their home and I was so excited and so honored when they invited me to join them for the dinner.  I have never been to a Passover Seder so I was nervous/excited to learn something new about a different culture.

Altogether the Seder took three hours from start to finish.  We did participate in almost all of the traditional portion of the Seder.  It was so humbling to participate in something so sacred.

This year for Easter we had two separate dinners: one with Justin's family and one with mine.  The day before Easter we headed to Justin's parents home to have a delicious dinner and spend some time with the family.

After dinner the kids went on a "Treasure" hunt outside.  It was so cute because Justin's parents drew a treasure map for the kids that they had to follow around to find their Easter Eggs and then the big prize at the end.

It is always so precious to see children looking for Easter Eggs.  At one point an egg cracked open and my niece was so excited because there were skittles in there.  I do not think she realized that there were things inside the eggs until I heard her yell out, "Oooo kittles!".  The rest of the afternoon was spent playing with their toys and enjoying the company of Justin's family.  

On Easter Sunday we got dressed up and went to a local Church with my family.  After church Justin and I grabbed a Biggby Coffee on our way to my parents house before eating dinner with my immediate family and some extended family.  My family get together's are never a small bunch... in fact it's considered small if there are less than 15 people in attendance.  

This ^ is just the "kids" that were at the family dinner.  There is no such thing as an intimate gathering in our family. haha

Question of the Day:

What fun things did you do for Easter?

I'd love to hear from you!

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Amy's Bridal Shower

Hey there? How is it going?! I hope your week has been going well so far and you have really been having an excellent week. 

Today I wanted to share a quick post about my cousin, Amy's, bridal shower.  I was very excited to be invited to her shower because we have not seen each other in a long time.

Growing up, Amy and I would spend one to two weeks every summer at our grandma's house hanging out, baking cookies and building forts in grandma's back yard.  So, of course, I am super excited that she is getting married and going into this amazing journey.

Amy's shower was held at Ike's Restaurant and everything was so lovely.  They had beautiful decorations with cute pictures of the bride and groom when they were little, with beautiful flower arrangements.  

For brunch we had delicious scrambled eggs, hashed browns, bacon/sausage, french toast with fresh fruit.  I am pretty picky when it comes to scrambled eggs and these were some of the most delicious eggs I have ever had. 

After eating, the bride and groom opened up their gifts and boy were they were blessed.  I always love going to bridal showers because you can really feel the love for the bride and groom as they are surrounded by loved ones and showered with love.

Happy Bridal Shower Amy! I cannot wait to celebrate you and Matt at your wedding in April!

Question of the Day: What is the most original gift you have seen at a bridal shower?

I'd love to hear from you!

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Happy New Year!

Happy New Years friends! I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas and New Years and were able to spend some time with loved ones and get some probably much needed rest.

Our year will start unlike any of the New Years I have started - with one less and rather important person.  It is with a sad heart that I share with you that my grandma passed away on Saturday December 27th early in the morning. 

Instead of sitting here detailing everything that has happened the past few weeks, I wanted to share a quote that my cousin shared on her Facebook page that I felt fit very well with everything that is going on.

"So, I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them."

 - The Perks of Being a Wallflower

To the most beautiful woman who is dancing in Heaven with the love of her life, thank you for being an inspiration and I am proud to call you my Grandma.

Sunrise: December 30, 1934

Sunrise: December 27, 2014

Life Threw a Curve Ball

Hi there readers! Happy Saturday! I hope your Saturday has been excellent you have something fun planned for this evening.  

I spent most of my day baking cookies with my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, nephew and niece and I had a blast.  We started this tradition a few years back and have it is something I look forward to each year. 

 

This year was a little different from years passed because McKenna was diagnosed with a peanut and egg allergy.  I had not idea how hard it was to come up with egg-less recipes until I started really looking around for recipes that either did not call for eggs or had something you can substitute for the eggs.  We were able to find one recipe that turned out pretty delicious - I will share the recipe with you on another day for sure. 

I wanted to share a more personal issue with you today as it is something that has been on my mind and has been upsetting me for the past week or so (which is why I've been a tad bit absent).

This is my Grandma.  She is a pillar in my life and a constant source of love and joy for me.  

She also is very sick.  

The day after Thanksgiving my Grandma was rushed to the ER with issues breathing and she has been there ever since then. 

 And I am devastated.

Currently, she is stable and showing slight improvement but our family is taking everything one hour at a time and we are holding our breath in anticipation of her recovery.  Grandma has been a pillar for our family for as long as I can remember - every Christmas is spent at her house and we often end up getting together at her house just to spend time as one large family.  

I am asking for my readers who pray, to please pray for her.  Pray for her health, that she would get better, for clear minds and clear hearts for those making decisions regarding her health, for my grandma to feel the love that is surrounding her and pray for our family as we continue to surround her during this difficult time.  If you are not the praying type, I ask that you keep her in your thoughts. 

I'm sorry for a sad post today, but I wanted to share with you all a little part of why I have not been as active on the blog the last few weeks.  You all are important to me and I truly value your readership.  

Question of the Day: What is one tradition you have that would not be the same if even one person was not present? 

It's Friday!

Happy Friday Friends! I hope you have had a wonderful week and have something exciting planned for the weekend!

Congratulations to Lyza J. on winning the Eat Well Sweat Often book! You have been emailed for your information to mail your prize.  

This weekend I will be working with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law at the biggest show Infantly Cute has ever attended! I love craft shows and working with them, so it will be a fun day all around.  If you are a Michigander and are looking for something fun to do tomorrow come check out the show! It is bound to be a fun day - I guarantee it.   

On Sunday during the day, we will be heading to the Snow Show for my third year in a row.  This year I am hoping we can get me a pair of boots and snow pants, but it will all depend on what is available.  I think Justin is looking to get a few items for himself.

Sunday evening I will be heading to a blogger event - my first ever event! I am a bit nervous but more excited to go check things out and enjoy some delicious cookies with fellow bloggers.

The last thing I wanted to share with you all is this video! If you have not seen it before, make sure to take four minutes to watch it.  Someone discovered that this old 1989 Aerobics Championship video matched almost too perfectly to Taylor Swift's "Shake it Off" song and the result is just too good.

Question of the Day: What fun things do you have planned this weekend?

The Breakers in Newport

Happy Tuesday Readers! I hope your week is going well so far and you did not have too horrible a case of "the Mondays" yesterday. 

The rest of our vacation was very nice and very relaxing.  We spent some time in Cape Cod playing putt putt golf with my dad, we relaxed and were lazy for an entire day, then we made our way out to Newport, Rhode Island to visit the mansions out there.

I had never heard about the Newport Mansions until my dad mentioned them right before we came out for our visit and when I asked around, everyone was excited that we were thinking about making a trip out there to visit them.  If you are like me and had never heard of them, check out this website: http://www.newportmansions.org/.  

All together, there are 10 places that you can visit out in Newport.  Because we were limited on time, we were only able to visit on place but I honestly think it was the best place to pay a visit to.

^This is The Breakers.  The Breakers was previously owned by the Vanderbilt family before it was turned into a museum for the public to visit.  The house is 163,000 sq ft, has 70 rooms and 20 bathrooms.  

During the tour, you are not allowed to take any pictures of the inside of the house, so I can only share pictures of the outside of the house and the grounds with you.  The structure really is impressive though.

After our tour of the mansion, we made our way into the town and grabbed lunch at a local pub - I had the burger while the guys had clam chowder and sandwiches.

Overall, the weather was perfect and it was so nice to be right near the ocean hearing the waves and smelling the salty air.

How many of you are Downton Abbey fans like I am? Well, the Vanderbilts had servants much like Mr. Carson and the gang.  During our tour, I was really hoping to get to see the servants quarters to see how accurate Downton Abbey is, but The Breakers tour does not include the servants quarters. *sigh* But, after some inquisition, I was able to find out that another one of the mansions, The Elms, does a servants quarters tour.  Had we had enough time, I would have really liked to make my way there to do that particular tour.  Oh well, maybe next time! 

Question of the Day: What is your favorite historical building?

Hello from Massachusetts

Hello Readers! Happy Tuesday.  I trust you have had a nice week so far!

Justin and I made our way to Massachusetts on Saturday making our way through Canada.  We left {somewhat} early on Saturday morning and ventured on then long 12+ hour drive to Massachusetts.  

Since we arrived later on Saturday evening, we basically crashed for the night as soon we arrived at Justin's cousins house. 

 Sunday morning we got up and enjoyed some time with our godson before heading out for breakfast at a Iocal diner.  His cousin loves diners so I was not surprised when we arrived at this diner.  For breakfast I got the Elvis pancakes (bananas, chocolate chips and peanut butter) and it was very delicious.

After breakfast, we made our way to the Roger Williams Zoo to see the animals.

Isn't the kangaroo hilarious!? It's like it is posing for the camera in a lingerie magazine.  I have to say I laughed when I saw it laying there.

The best of the evening was spent relaxing and spending time with Justin's family.  

Question of the Day: What is your favorite animal to see at the zoo?