Just because...

Hannah made these amazing Cinnamon Roll Macarons- beyond delicious and impressive!

Sunday morning I took the boys to the park.  Took a break from running and had a nice long walk with them instead.  They were very pleased... and tuckered out.

Mikayla bought her first car! So exciting!

3 Memorial Day miles-

Strawberry shortcake for dessert!

Friday Fav's

I'm so happy its Friday! My heart feels so light and happy today!

I can not believe Memorial Day weekend is already upon us.  Yesterday we found out the last day of school is going to to June 12. So close! We are all ready to be done with this whole distance learning thing. I hope and pray that school looks far more "normal" come fall.

Here's my progress so far on the OneNY500K Challenge.  I love that they updated the Leaderboard to show "YOU"- previously it only showed the front runners.  Which of course I was no where near! But I am happy and proud of my slow and steady progress. ;-)

Bruno's new harness came last night. I was so excited to try it out today.  It made walking him so much easier! I am so happy! And he looks so dapper.

Side note: Bruno learned to catch treats tossed to him... I was totally shocked and excited when he caught the treat I tossed at him.  Previously he hadn't even attempted to catch it.  It's the little things.

I'm really enjoying the feeling of getting out walking and running every morning.

I love lilacs and they will always remind me of my Grandma and Grandpa's house.  We don't have any in our yard but our neighbors do! As well as a few bushes on our walking route- I caught their lovely fragrance as we were strolling by this morning.

Yesterday I finished this book on my Kindle- it was fantastic! Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe

I found it warm and whimsical.  It takes place in a small southern town. Themes of family, forgiveness and reconciliation. A touch of romance and magic.  It left me feeling so happy and hopeful. There'll be more in my month end book post, I'm sure.

The other night I dozed off reading and woke up with this guy on my shoulder.  I love my Chancey snuggles.

weekend things

The weather this weekend was so beautiful! The sunshine felt so wonderful!

I made spaghetti and meatballs on Friday.  I had picked up a couple loaves of garlic bread at Tops- it was buy one get one free... I was so irritated when I sliced into the first piping hot loaf to discover somehow we were totally jipped! No butter or garlic! So thankful I had a back up loaf! :D

We tackled our front flower bed. It was so satisfying when it was all done!  Mikayla and I want to make a butterfly garden on the other side, currently researching that project.  Maybe this is finally the year I will have nice flower beds.

Logged more miles! I'm up to 12/310 for the challenge as of this morning.  I decided to count walking the dogs etc.  My legs can not take running 3 miles every day at this point.  But hopefully will be getting stronger.  Saturday's "run" was rough. But moved forward for 3 miles... and ordered myself new wireless earbuds as a reward. ;-) They will be staying in my bag when not in use- so they don't get swiped. Or broken. Or chewed.

I finished this book- a pretty good mystery read.

This cracked me up, I walked in the kitchen to see Ryan and Hannah playing cards.  I asked what they were playing... solitaire. They were each playing their own game of solitaire. 

Sunday Church service... I can not wait to go back to "real" church.

This week...

Monday night I did a live video on Amy's Pampered Kitchen- you can check it out --> here.  I also did the same recipe in the smaller skillet for Mikayla, I seared some tofu for her instead of the pork. These pork chops came out so delicious and juicy!  The recipe is on here on Pampered Chef or in the Spring Season's Best.

I started reading this to inspire me for my next running adventure- although not nearly as extreme!

 Two chilly miles yesterday! Oh, what crazy weather around here! Today I ran in short sleeves and capris! A 21 degree temperature difference. I was running roughly the same time- around 6ish am.

34 on Thursday and 55 this morning!

Today was my first run for the OneNY Challenge- running the distance from Niagara Falls to Albany across NY State- 310 miles. Roughly 3 miles a day from today to August 31.

Hannah made some delicious grilled pizza Wednesday night-

I am so excited the MMD Summer Reading Guide was released yesterday!  I spent way too much time pouring over it last night, as well as my printout of all the covers from last years guide. I read 16/30 of the books on last years.  Some of my favorite reads from last year came from the guide.

I put a few more on hold (on my kindle) that I have been meaning to get to, as well as a few from the newly released guide. Sure hope they don't all come in at the same time! 

Boy, I miss going to the library! I hope it opens back up soon.  In the meantime I am thankful I can still get loans on my Kindle!

We are so excited about this! Disney PLUS is releasing Hamilton July 3! We have been dying to see it!

Happy Friday! Hope you have a great weekend! =D

Mother's Day

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a lovely Mother's Day Weekend.

I wanted to try my hand at sourdough croissants. They didn't have nearly the flaky layers I had hoped but not bad for a first attempt. I will definitely be trying these again.  I also ordered a kitchen scale to help with my sourdough endeavors- we'll see if it makes a difference ;-)

Mikayla made these delicious blueberry cream cheese pancakes for breakfast.  This was actually my 2nd breakfast- Rhett made me eggs when we got up.

 They had melty cream cheese bombs all through the batter- so yummy! This recipe is from the Cravings- Hungry for More cookbook.

 Some of the flowers from my children and hubby.

We watched the Church service together. 💖

 Exquisite Mother's Day Dinner- Chicken Picatta and Green Beans from the Magnolia Table cookbook and Potato Smashies (from the Cravings one).  Mikayla put a lot of hard work into all the delicious things she made and I truly appreciate from the bottom of my heart.

After dinner we had a Zoom call with my siblings and my parents. I miss being together in person.

 I went for a little run in the afternoon.  I'm finding I'm having a really hard time getting motivated enough to actually run but am always happy when I get out there.

Apple Dumplings- also made by Mikayla!

Tonight I will be doing a LIVE video on my page- Amy's Pampered Kitchen, there will also be a vegetarian version. ;-)  I'll be going Live around 5 but of course it will be pinned at the top of the page if you need to check it out later ;-)

Already there...

 As this song finished playing on KLOVE- the words "He's already there" still hanging in the air, I clicked on my email to see this devotional at the top of the page.

You can read the devotional -> HERE <-

It made me smile and think someone's trying to send me a message. It's nice to know God is watching.  Even in all this uncertainty- He knows, and He is here.

The sunrise this morning was absolutely breathtaking- this picture doesn't even begin to do it justice.  The sunrise always fills me with such hope!

As do cheerful spring flowers- these fancy little daffodils are in our front flower bed.

Are you doing ok? It's so easy to get discouraged these days, to feel tired, lonely and isolated. 

But God is still here, God is still in control. He cares and He has a plan. 

Do you need some extra prayer- I'd love to pray for you. 

Leave a comment or send me a message. 💖

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; 

he will never leave you nor forsake you. 

Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged.” 

- DEUTERONOMY 31:8

Oh That SUNSHINE!

This weekend was absolutely gorgeous.

Saturday Morning I took the pups for a walk then set off to run 3 miles.

I know they are "weeds" and will soon be mowed down but the dandelions at the park made me so happy.

I made some mint chocolate chip ice cream- which turned out fantastic!

Before bed I mixed up a sourdough sponge to sit overnight...
I was so pleased with how it looked in the morning.  

Rhett laughed at me as I told her she was beautiful as I mixed the dough...

I was practically giddy when this came out of the oven!

Sleepy Pups...

We watched our church service -💖

In the afternoon we enjoyed some sunshine!