Meal planning is a plot against sanity. - Me

That's right I said it.  I hate meal planning.  I love food, well some food, I am not a big fan of many vegetables once you get past the typical corn, green beans, carrots (only if they are cooked), and broccoli. 

A goal in my life is to eventually make a pretty cook book with recipes and pictures of our families favorite meals.  Another goal in life is to be able to sit down and plan meals for two weeks, along with a shopping list for the trip and have it take less than 4 hours.  Currently that not only takes me about 4 hours but it has to be spread out between two days because I get so frustrated about cooking the same things over and over again that I just get up and walk off.  I think maybe I should work on the second goal first.

I took a cooking class in high school and they had someone from a culinary academy come in and let us plate food.  I was mesmerized at the little bottles to drizzle various substances over the dessert we had on solid white plates in front of us, and was amazed at how the little touches really made the food look so much more tasty. Maybe one day I will accomplish making a balanced meal with bold colors and enough pizazz to land a photo of it on the cover of a cooking magazine.  But tonight I must continue my attempts to finish my meal plan and grocery list.  Wish me luck.

 

 



P.S. - The Parmesan crusted chicken variety of Chicken Helper is like a master chef level compared to the normal effort put forth for a boxed meal.  Just so you know.

Fathers Day and Dravyn's first trip to the zoo!

Father's Day at our house included Kevin watching the video of pictures I have taken over the last year of he and Dravyn together, getting the card Dravyn colored for him, and then him deciding he wanted to go to the zoo for Father's Day.

 

It was the first time Dravyn got to go to the zoo and she loved it!  She was such a big girl she walked about 90% of the time which is saying something considering we were there for almost 4 hours.  Her favorite animals seemed to be the polar bears, kangaroos, birds, and frogs. 

 

 

 

 

I feel very lucky to have a husband who loves our baby girl as much as he does.  I don't think I could have a better father for my child, and love how happy she is playing with her Daddy. 

 

 

Like Mother's Day I had several phone calls to make.  I called my father, my grandpa T, and my grandpa B.  The only one I actually talked to was my Grandpa T, but hey I put in my attempt.

 

 

Me and my grandma and grandpa B at my wedding.

Me and my grandpa T at my reception.

My father showing me the pretty flowers.



I hope that your Father's Day weekend was a great one and that you had someone to share it with.

Just a trip to the park.

Nothing to read here, just pictures of a big girl visiting the park.

 

 

 

 

One Month To Go

Ta-Da! It's my 50th blog post, hope you enjoy.

Dravyn turned 23 months old yesterday, she loves taking pictures with the camera which causes issues when I am trying to take pictures of her because every time the camera flashes she feels she has to get down and come look to see herself on the screen.  I wouldn't trade it for anything though because I love photography so much, and hope we will share the hobby when she gets older.  Here are a few of the pictures from her 23 month photo shoot.

Saturday I was not feeling very well, but we managed to take Dravyn to the Poplar Heights Living History Summer Festival.  She is obsessed with cows right now, and got to pet one, I think it made her day.

We took pictures in front of the barn, but she wouldn't stand up.  It makes her look like she is peeing on the barn, but I promise she wasn't.

She also got to mine for gemstones.  She had a lot of fun, but I think she really would have loved it if we had allowed her to stay and play in the water all day.  She is really proud of the rocks she found though.

I love weekends filled with family fun, and I can't wait to see what our next adventure will be.

5 Years of marriage down, forever to go.

 We had so much fun last weekend.  Kevin took off Friday and we went down to drop Dravyn off with my aunt and celebrated our anniversary a week early.  It was a little weird in Joplin that night, almost like a ghost town.  We had ate lunch and gone to a bunch of stores including Bed Bath & Beyond where we may or may not have spent several minutes testing out the massage chairs.  Then we went to eat at Tokyo Steak and Sushi, which was delicious and a great experience, where the people at the hibachi with us were talking about weather and possible tornadoes.  We went to Best Buy and checked the weather on the computer, deciding maybe we should head to the hotel.  As we were driving down Rangeline the sirens went off.  It  initiated a long period of waiting down in the lobby with everyone in the hotel, which was really kind of amusing due to the fact that apparently drinking at the bar became a game to some of the other guests.  Eventually the warning was expired and Kevin and I went to Applebee's across the street for dessert.

The whole experience was a reminder of our honeymoon.  That time, 5 years ago we sat in an Applebee's across the street from our hotel and saw all the weather watches and warnings, both storm and tornado, pop up on the television in the corner as we enjoyed desert and perhaps a pretty drink for me.  I feel so lucky for being married to my favorite person on earth.  He is amazingly sweet, funny, supportive, and protective.  He balances my short temper and and makes me feel so very very loved every day of my life.

Things have not turned out the way we wanted, or even expected, and there have been some stressful times in our marriage.  But always the good has outweighed the bad.  At our wedding we were new college graduates, 20 and 21 years old.  Now we are 5 years older, I have graduated from college a third time, Kevin has been working at the same place for 3 years now, and we are parents to a wonderfully beautiful yet trying toddler daughter.  I have loved these last 5 years and can't wait to see what our story looks like when we celebrate our 50th anniversary.