Friday Faves ~ 9.28

Happy Friday! Boy am I glad the weekend is upon us!

Here's a little flashback- circa 2004- can you believe a week from tomorrow this kids will have been married 20 years, time is a funny thing.  I can't believe I am at the place in my life where I can say things like that... 20 years ago.  That we have a daughter in college. When I look at her and realize at her age I was MARRIED and EXPECTING HER. Crazy, crazy, crazy. But I wouldn't change a thing.

This morning I started listening to this book. Its only been on my list for 10 years now! Last year I saw it at the library book sale and for some reason I didn't snap it right up.  Anyway I saw I had written about it on an old blog entry (TEN years ago) and I decided there was no time like the present so here we are...  I'll write a book review when I'm done =)

Five years ago, apple picking with some of my favorite.  A truly great day.


The kids raved about this dinner. Pampered Chef's Mexican Chicken Lasagna.  I also made this Queso recipe that I found on pinterest. So good! Hannah kept smiling and nodding after every bite. It makes me happy when I can make something my family loves.

Yesterday morning I came up with the "brilliant" idea to make soup and do a live video after work.  Of course by the time work was done and I had stopped at the store I was no longer in the mood. :P I was running late, getting hungry, tired etc...

But I had posted on my page I was going to do the video... so I did it.

Can I just tell you how crazy happy it made me?  I have't done much lately with Pampered Chef and this made me realize how much I miss it!  I love cooking and this gives me a taste of living my dream.  Here is the link to the video demo if you want to check it out.

--->>  https://www.facebook.com/amyspamperedkitchen/videos/270295190265496/

Here is our finished product... seriously so good!

Tonight's dinner Mexican Chicken Lasagna prepped and ready to cook when I get home.

Here are my next few available party dates! Fri 9/28, Sat 9/29, Tues 10/2, Thurs 10/4 or Fri 10/12 🎉

Thought for today...

 

Not Today . . .

I woke up cold and grumpy.

Why???

I had the most amazing weekend. I was not going to allow the devil to steal my joy today.  I took it right back. Life is too short to be grumpy.

This weekend we were privileged to attend the wedding of my husband's sister.  All the more precious to me because 10 months ago I was afraid I wouldn't get to attend this wedding.  But God is good.  The picture below fills me with joy.  My heart with hope.  What ever struggle you are facing today- God knows and He's got your back. Believe me.

"19 years and 50 weeks"
❤💖❤

I feel like I look awful in this picture and I don't even care because just the fact that it exists makes me so happy. My husband took it. MY Husband.  This may seem stupid- but it is a very specific answer to prayer. God keeps reminding me- stop looking at the past, where you have been.  Look forward. Enjoy the now. Don't let the pain of the past ruin the joy of the present. (I came very close to doing that this weekend.)

God's beautiful creation.


The happy couple....

In case you need reminded like I do {frequently}


One of the things I love about fall... SOUP! I'll be doing a LIVE video over on my facebook page tonight. Come check it out around 5ish.  Wanna cook with me? 😉  Here is a link to the recipe. Baked Potato Chowder.

Retreat!

This weekend I was able to attend Ladies Retreat with out church. Its been a few years since I have been able to go. I was privileged to get to take my best friend, my sister in law and my daughter with me.

 

We had an fantastic time! The theme of the weekend was Beautifully Broken. The speaker Mandy Young was amazing.  We loved her! She was just so full of life and joy. We hung on her every word. 

PS she is friends with Candace Cameron Bure. We are seriously thinking about becoming her groupies ;-)

It was just over all a refreshing, encouraging weekend.  So wonderful to be reminded that even though we are broken and flawed. God can use us and God loves us, and we are beautifully His.

One of my favorite parts was the Journal cover/ Bible journaling class we went too. We covered composition notebooks.  It made me itch to Bible Journal more again. It was so fun, we could have stayed there all night playing.

Our other favorite spot was the Cup of Grace Coffee House. I mean Coffee. <3 They had keurig's and Kcups, creamers and syrups. Whipped Cream and Sprinkles. Tables and twinkle lights. =)

Most of the our church ladies.

Moms Connect Crew- next year I hope there are more of us able to go!




The creek. I am always drawn to the water <3

It was Mikayla's first time at Ladies Retreat. Saturday was also her 19th birthday.  How crazy my kid is like a grown up!

I am so proud I get to call this beautiful girl my daughter.



Sunday morning there was a spider web on my van.  I am not a fan of spiders but I find their webs amazing.


My cabin mates found the number of water bottles I drank Saturday impressive...


Photobooth fun

Steph and I- we love our coffee.                     

We reminisced a lot about previous retreats- here are links to some of my old blog entries.

• 2008 - my first Ladies Rereat, getting there was an adventure!
• 2009 - the year the Retreat Speaker commented on my blog!
• 2011
• 2013

First day of school

Its the first day of school!  That means pancakes for breakfast!

Teenagers.




Also made some snack bars for lunches. I'm still learning to love the snack bar maker. I love it in theory. Its kinda messy and sticky but I will keep playing till I perfect it. This batch is from a recipe I found on pinterest.  Also I think the oats need decreased a smidge and a few more mix ins added instead.


10th & 6th grades... just like that... doesn't seem possible. 

My babies are growing up :'(

Chance and I set out on our run as soon as the bus left.

When you accidentally flip the camera when you're trying to take a picture! 😂


This is the picture I was trying to take- sunlight streaming from behind the cloud.

I decided to stop and spring for a breakfast sandwich and was disappointed. The ones I make at home with the microwave egg cooker are soooo much better! #spoiled #ditchthedrivethru

I am so excited about the fall products! Especially the Quick Cooker! Hopefully it will be joining my kitchen very soon! You can get it 60% off in September when you host a party ;-) ;-) Whatta steal!

Available now --> www.pamperedchef.com/pws/amylaforte <--

Also looking for a couple September parties...just sayin' ;-)

Hope you have a wonderful Wednesday! My 4-day headache is finally gone! Can't wait to hear all about their first day back.

Labor Day weekend and so ends summer. . .

In spite of having a headache the whole weekend (& still). It was a pretty great weekend. We slept in bit which felt great. Rhett asked me if I was going running, I said I didn't know. Although I knew I should haul my butt out of bed and take Chance for a run. Bed just felt soooo much better.

Chance and I had a pretty rough week as far as running goes. Most days we ended up just walking or cutting it short. I guess everyone needs a rest week once in a while.

So when Rhett asked if i wanted to go out for breakfast, I jumped at the idea. We went to his favorite local diner to kick off his birthday celebration. It was definitely a good idea.

I took Chance for a little walk with Hannah when we got home.

Saturday afternoon we headed up to a beach on Lake Ontario to celebrate Rhett's 40th with the Fam.

Sunday ended up being another impromptu family day.  The whole family, 4 generations- my grandma, mom and dad, Rhett and all our kids plus my siblings and their kids were in church on Sunday.  My dad was preaching since our pastor was away on vacation.  We ended up lunching and spending a good chunk of the afternoon on my parents deck.

My cousins and aunt ran a half marathon Sunday morning in Virginia Beach. We were all pretty jealous here and motivated to start training for the Syracuse Half.  As well as seriously contemplating going back to Pittsburgh next spring... I am 97% sure I am going to do it.

So Laura, Isaac, Chance and I knocked out 3 super humid miles Monday morning; committing to run everyday for the rest of the week.  Hoping to throw so yoga in there too.

I took Mikayla back to school. Such an easier drive now that she is so much closer. We hit Moe's in Cortland for lunch.  I'm thinking we will be frequent visitors here ;-)

I got to see her dorm and room.

The headache started to flair up really bad on the drive home and I ended up spending most of the rest of the day in bed. Hoping it would go away.  It didn't.

I was so discouraged and frustrated when I woke up with it still lingering. I crawled back in bed thinking I would bail. Then I had to get back up to put Rhett's pants in the dryer. I found being up and moving (oddly) I felt a little better. Chance was waiting-- so I changed into running clothes and we set out.  We were a little bummed to see that a tree had fallen across the trail last night during the storm.  So we had to find another spot of Chance to get his drink. But all in all- a good little run.



Tomorrow is the first day of school. Prayers for all the kiddos and teachers as they begin a new year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~