Show and Tell: My Loves

Happy Valentine's Day!  It's Show and Tell Tuesday over at Momfessionals and what a better way to celebrate that to reintroduce everyone to our loves.

Patrick

Patrick and I met while at college.  We started dating at the beginning of our sophomore year.

Our first spring break together, I took Patrick to Disney World with my mom and brother to watch my little brother compete in a cheer competition.

We stayed together all through the fun days of college.  We went to a small private university, that was local for me and only 2 hrs from home for Patrick.  We both were involved in greek life, which is how we met and got together.  Patrick's fraternity had a house on campus, but non of the sororities did.  I said I was local, but it still took me about 30 minutes to get to campus from my parent's house, so after a while, I found myself spending more and more time at the fraternity.  Almost all of our best friends, even to today, all came from that house.  

Since I went to school for two different degrees, I was there for an extra year, but when Patrick graduated he got a job in town and we stayed together.  During my last spring break, we went back to Disney World and Patrick proposed on the beach at the Polynesian.

We were married on July 10, 2010.

And you guessed it, we went back to Disney World for our honeymoon..

Even though we don't usually make a big deal about Valentine's Day, I hope for many, many more with him.

Littlecjc

Nearly three years later, we were blessed with our little girl.

She adds so much love and joy to our family.

She's our little wild one for sure.   

I can't believe that she is already 3.  I don't know where the time has gone, but it has been amazing.  I love being her mom and I am so thankful that everyday is truly an adventure with her. 

Please join the fun, and share who you're loving this Valentine's Day!

Hello Monday

Well, with me still recovering from sickness, this weekend was pretty laid back.  Our big excitement was cleaning.  Our guest bedroom never gets used, so it has kind of become a clutter room where those items without proper homes just get stashed away there.  Patrick had an old magic band that had been missing for a long time that he couldn't find anywhere.  After cleaning through almost every room in the house, I finally looked through his junk drawer that he stated he had already gone through and lo and behold there I found it.

Hello Monday
Here's your peek at this week's layout and plans.

As you can see, it's Frozen week.  My thought was I needed to get to this movie while it was still cold so that there was at least a chance of snow.  However, we've been having an unusually warm winter this year with no real snow and I don't think there's any chance of seeing any this week either.

Hello Consignment Sale

If you've read my last show and tell, you know that I take advantage of two local consignment sales during spring and fall.  The first of the two is taking place this week.  I've signed up to volunteer tonight during drop off where I will likely be sorting through the clothes coming in deciding if anything needs to be turned away due to stains, tears, or such wear.  I always volunteer at these sales, because the volunteers shop first, which makes a big difference in what you can find to take home.

Hello Daddy Daughter Dance

Not only do Patrick and Littlecjc get there quality time while I'm at the sales this week, but they are also going to their first dance together Friday night.  Our church is hosting the event and I can't wait to see them off and then hear all about it when they get back home.

Hello "New" Books

I did get my hands on Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon, the second in the Outlander series and was able to start it this weekend.  However, it's even bigger than the first book, so I'm sure it will take me a while to get through it.  I also started Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater but haven't gotten that far yet.  

Hello Binge List Add-ons

I also was able to get Outlander: Season 1, Volume 1 and of course made it through all 8 episodes very quickly.  I'm looking forward to starting Season 1, Volume 2 today.

Hello Menu Plan

Well, last week was awful in following a plan, as I didn't even try.  Here's to hoping this week is better.

Monday - Potato Soup

Tuesday - Spaghetti, Meatballs, green beans

Wednesday - Crockpot Chicken Teriyaki with rice

Thursday - Tilapia, broccoli, carrots

Friday - Mongolian Beef with rice, peas - new recipe

I should know better than putting a new recipe on Friday, but we will see.

Hello Valentine's Day

It's hard to believe I've written this entire post and not mentioned that Valentine's Day is this week.  It's normal that we don't make a big deal of this holiday, but this year in particular, we've agreed not to get each other anything since we just got our annual passes to Disney World.  However, we are expecting a package that day from the shop disney parks app from a sale they just had.  So, I guess we have one more joint gift expected that day after all.

The Aristocats

I knew last weekend was going to be busy with food since it was the superbowl.  So, I had planned on viewing The Aristocats and keeping it simple.  I made croque monsieur and pomme frites, also known as grilled cheese sandwhiches and fries. 

Littlecjc did at least play a little piano while we were at Grandma's for the superbowl.

Even though this was a simple lunch followed by the movie, it was nice to change the pace a little.  Patrick said he had never seen the movie before, which I find hard to believe knowing how often Littlecjc has watched it, but it was great having all three of us snuggle up on the couch and watch something together.

Wordless Wednesday: Cinderella

"So this is Love" - Cinderella

This week's Wordless Wednesday theme over at Focused on the Magic is "love this."  I always love that moment when you first see the castle.  Back in 2010, I caught this sweet moment of my sister-in-law and her now husband taking it in.

Join the fun here!

Hello Monday

First things first, we had a great, food-filled weekend.

Friday, we went out for some pizza with some friends.  The place is a little local place that has a few quarter sucking games for the kids to play.  We went through some money, but Littlecjc definitely came home with more toys than she should have.  It was sweet at first when the 6 year old boy we were with was being nice and playing with her and winning her some toys.  I don't know what kind of charm she started using after that though, because she kept coming back to our table with more toys even after the little boy stopped playing with her and we stopped giving her money.  When this first happened, we gave her some more money to give to the girl who was giving her so much attention, but that girl just kept spending the money on Littlecjc so we stopped giving her money again.  Regardless, we came home with more little toys than she could carry, and we all had a great time.

Patrick's parents came in town on Saturday.  They live about 2 hours away, so not too far for a day trip, but still a nice treat when they do come down.  They were in the mood for a pick-me-up, which Littlecjc always gives them, and they still hadn't seen our kitchen floor or our van.  I think I've mentioned before, that Patrick's sister also lives in the same city as us, so she and her husband also joined us and we all went out to Logan's for lunch.  After somewhat controlling myself at lunch, we all decided to go to Cold Stone Creamery for dessert where all hope was lost.  After our splurge, we came back home where Mamaw played with Littlecjc for a while before they had to hit the road again.  It was a really nice visit and I'm always thankful when they are able to come in town.

When Sunday rolled around, thankfully we weren't going out for food, but we definitely still splurged as we went to my mom's for the Superbowl.  I don't know why we all have the mindset that we have to eat so much to watch this one particular game.  We had ribs, chicken wings, loaded fries, loaded baked beans, stuffed and bacon wrapped peppers, fried shrimp, peanut clusters, and a chocolate cake.  We did actually watch the game (or most of it, at least) and of course the commercials and the half-time performance.  Although, Grandma probably didn't see much of anything since she spent the entire evening playing with Littlecjc.  They did watch and dance to Lady Gaga's performance and I think Littlecjc approved!  We all had fun, and someone was asleep before we made it 5 minutes up the road.  Win, win!

Hello Monday
It's a new week, so here's your peek before the ink.

I know Valentine's Day is still next week, but it's closer to this weekend than the next, so Cinderella had to be this week!  It's looking like a normal, basic week, but don't they usually this early on?

Hello Cold

I wouldn't say I was bragging about being healthy or anything, but it is ironic that the friends we went out with on Friday said they had been battling sickness at their house and after asking if we've been sick, I had to say that we had all been fine.  Not even 24 hours later, my throat started hurting.  I'm not super sick yet, but I am really fighting it this morning.  On the bright side, my throat feels better today, but on the downside my entire head is stuffy and my body aches.  Hopefully, this doesn't get worse.

Hello Food

So how did we do last week? Meh, ok I guess.  We had leftovers one day instead of making the Chili and as already stated, we ended up going out Friday night.  How was last week's new dinner?  Well, I messed up and bought the wrong Squash, so we added some pasta instead of the squash, but we really liked the flavor.  I think we will definitely try this recipe again once we get some spaghetti squash, and we'll have to see which way we like better.

So what's cooking this week? Well, honestly I'm not quite sure yet.  I had some great meals planned this week, but after this past weekend, Patrick mentioned wanting to do the Military Diet dinners to try to get back on track.  So, if we stick to that I'll have to see which meals we keep and which get tossed this week.

Hello New Reads

I finally finished Outlander this weekend and I can't wait to start the next book.  We'll have to see how quickly we can get it from the library.  I also finished listening to Forever this weekend and just downloaded the last book in that series, Sinner.  

Hello Binge List

I created this new spread this past week to keep track of what I'm watching.  As you can see, I didn't get to start Outlander yet.  I'm currently on a hold list for it at the library, so here's hoping I can start it soon.  Instead, I have been watching Limitless.  Patrick also started watching season 8 of Friends the other day, so I've caught some of those off and on as well.

I think that's it for now.  We'll just have to see how the rest of the week plays out.  Feel free to share what you've got going on this week and what you're saying hello to.

Aladdin

Last weekend, we had our Aladdin movie night. 

I was a little intimidated trying to figure out our dinner, since this is pretty far outside our normal eating habits.  I searched through pinterest looking for ideas that I thought I could make and that my family would eat.  I found this recipe for Middle Eastern pizza and one for Moroccan Maple Roasted Carrots and Apples.  My hope was that if I made two dishes, we might end up liking one.  Neither recipe was extremely hard, but the pizza was a little time consuming.  Here's how they turned out.

So what's the verdict? Well, Patrick and I both enjoyed the pizza.  I don't think either of us thought it was amazing over any other pizza though, so we probably won't make it again unless we're looking for something with a Middle Eastern flare.  As for the carrots and apples, I really disliked this dish.  Patrick ate his and said it was ok, but a little strange having the carrots together with the apples.  When I asked if he wanted me to save the leftovers, he said no, so he couldn't have enjoyed them that much.  As for Littlecjc, well she declared it all disgusting and chose a "cold hot dog" instead.

I also attempted to make some baklava for dessert.  I found this easy recipe here.  It's been a long time since I've had any baklava so I'm not sure how authentic this was, but it was pretty good so I consider it a win.

We had some family over earlier in the day, so we didn't do any special activities.  We just had a nice dinner and screening of the movie, which was very enjoyable!

Wordless Wednesday: The Aristocats

"Because I'm a lady" - Marie

The movie theme in my house this week is The Aristocats.  I figured this photo can also pass as my February Calendar Shot, so I'm linking up with Deb from Focused on the Magic which is where I got the idea for Wordless Wednesday.