Easter Sunday

10 Years

April 6th, 2002 Mark proposed to me and on March 29th, 2003 we got married.  The proposal was amazing.  Mark had a fabulous day in Chicago all planned out.  Mark proposed to me in my living room of my town house, still dressed in a robe, just after getting out of the shower.  I was completely surprised!  I returned from the gym with roses on my stairs, a note that said "take a shower and get ready.  We are spending the day together."  Then, after I got out of the shower Mark was at my house, with a dozen roses, down on one knee proposing.  I still have that old robe!  He flew me to Chicago.  It was so cold when we got off the train.  We stayed at The Drake Hotel.  We had dinner at an amazing French restaurant on the top floor of a building that overlooked the whole city.  We drank a bottle of wine.  We took a Limo back to our hotel.  We stayed at The Drake Hotel.  We flew back the next day.  It was so fun.  

Then we started planning the wedding!  We had a 5:00 wedding at the church I grew up in.  The bridesmaids were black dresses, and carried red roses.  They day went off without a hitch and everything looked gorgeous.  

When I found my dress I did not really like it on the rack, but when I tried it on it looked perfect and fit perfectly.  It did not need any alterations (except hemming of course) and it was beautiful.  

We had a huge wedding party with tons of friends.  We still keep in touch with almost all of them. 

This is one of my favorite pictures from the wedding.  Walking out to everyone blowing bubbles.  The photographer did an amazing job of capturing this moment.  

Our reception was at the Royals Stadium Club and was perfect.  We surprised everyone by being announced from the Royals dugout and from the field!  The night included a huge buffet of food, pasta bar, wine, beer, dancing, cake and of course a KU win!  I will always remember watching the KU game at my wedding reception.  It was so fun.  

We danced.  We drank. We partied.  We had so much fun with our family and friends.  The next day we flew to St. Lucia and stayed at a Sandals Resort for a week.  We were in heaven.  

The past 10 years has been awesome.  I have grown to love Mark more and more with each day and each year that passes.  Mark is an amazing Husband and Father.  We see eye to eye on almost everything (money, goals, dreams, future plans, kids) and that is why there is no doubt in my mind that this marriage is forever.  We communicate well.  We talk things out.  I get my way a lot, but I know when to back down and let Mark "win" a few times :)  

This summer we will celebrate our 10th anniversary at an All Inclusive Adults only resort.  That trip can not come fast enough.  I can't wait to hear she sound of the ocean, the waves, the sand in my feet, a drink in my hand, and the sun all around.  But for now, we will celebrate at our favorite restaurant the weekend, The Melting Pot.  

Happy 10th anniversary Mark.  Love you!  

Nice Quiet Weekend

This snow is absolutely crazy.  Can you believe it?  The snow this weekend forced us to slow down, relax, stay in and just lay low...

But, this did too :(  Poor Lauren.  She came home Friday night and complained that she did not feel good.  She fell asleep in our bed instantly, so I figured she was just worn out from the week.  She woke up with a fever, headache, tummy ache, said she felt dizzy, and her throat hurt.  I have learned that when Lauren gets a fever she has strep throat.  EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.  and well...she has not had her round of strep this winter, so she was due.  

She slept OK Saturday night, but woke up with a fever.  It went away after a while, so I hoped we had turned a corner and it was nothing big...but that evening her fever was back and the snow had started to fall. So, I decided based on her night I would decide if I would venture out to Urgent Care in the morning to get her checked out.  She woke up at 3 in the morning complaining that her throat hurt and she was burning up.  So when she woke up again around 8 with another fever I knew I had to get out this morning and get her looked at.  Good thing I did.  We were in and out in 30 minutes.  We were the second patient of the morning.  The streets were not too bad in Mark's SUV (4-wheel drive.)  As soon as Lauren got a dose of antibiotics in her she perked up and has been fine since.  Yea.  It was a little rough this weekend, but now she is feeling better.  I am just so thankful it happened on a Saturday and Sunday so no school or work was missed.  

We always dye Easter eggs on Palm Sunday and even though we did not make it to church, we still did our eggs this afternoon...while trying to watch the KU game!  

A hot shower and some clean jammies made her feel better.  

 

 Addison wore this princess dress most of the weekend.  Cutest thing ever.  

We are so ready for Easter and Spring around here.  Ready for some warm weather, shorts and flip flops.  

What I Eat..or Try to Eat at Least

(a post as an official Hospital Hill Blogger.)

A few years back I lost about 20-25 pounds following the Weight Watcher's program.   It worked for me.  Actually, once your mind is in it, anything will work.  So, when my baby was not a baby anymore (shortly after her 1st birthday) I decided it was time to get the weight off and get back to my wedding day weight!   I was able to lose the weight and have kept if off for 3 years now!  Running has definitely helped in "maintenance" mode of weight loss.  Anymore, I do not feel like it is maintenance mode.  I feel like it is life.  I want to be fit.  I want to be healthy.  I want to eat healthy.  I don't do anything extreme.  I just try and eat a well balanced diet of protein, carbs, fat, fruit and veges.  Veges are definitely my weakness and the area that I need the most improvement.  So, here you go.  What I typically eat:

Breakfast:  Click protein shake.  Sometimes I drink it plain.  Sometimes I put in in the blender and add a frozen banana and 1 tablespoon of  PB 2.  Sometimes I use vanilla Click and  throw in a frozen banana and some frozen strawberries.  I also might eat a protein bar. Zone protein bars are my favorite.  Oatmeal, Egg whites with salsa and a tortilla wrap, Greek yogurt with fresh fruit.  Begal with peanut butter.   Honestly, sometimes I stop at Starbucks or Scooters coffee and get fancy, high calorie, high fat coffee drink that will hold me over until lunch!  

Lunch:  Since I work full time I always eat lunch at work.  It varies from time to time, but is typically the same.  I like to make a turkey wrap with turkey, wheat tortilla, spinach, green peppers, carrots, and fat free Italian dressing.  That is one way I sneak in a lot of veges.  I usually add a can of  Progresso light soups.    I also like to eat a Greek Pita with turkey, lettuce, Greek dressing, cucumbers, tomatoes, black olives and feta cheese.  I always have fruit with lunch and usually my daily Diet Dr. Pepper.  I have cut back significantly on my intake of Diet Dr. Pepper, but I just can't seem to cut it out completely.  The hospital has a lot of great soups, so a few times a week I might get a large helping of soup.

Spaghetti squash has become a new favorite this winter.  I usually add a piece of chicken breast for some protein if I take spaghetti squash in for lunch.  

In the summer I like to make a pasta dish that includes zucchini and yellow squash.  I cook wheat pasta (usually 8 oz.)  I dice the zucchini and squash and saute it in olive oil (about 1/3 cup) with some garlic.  I divide up the pasta into 2 oz servings and divide up the zucchini/squash/olive oil mix into each serving.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and enjoy.  I usually add chicken breast as well for the protein.  

Dinner:  I cook every night.  Well, not every night, but I make sure we have a home cooked meal every night.  We do not eat out at all during the week.  Occasionally on a Friday night I might grab a pizza, and sometimes on Saturday we might go out to celebrate something, but not very often.  It is just too expensive and too unhealthy to eat out a lot.  If  my week looks crazy busy, then I will spend a few hours in the kitchen Sunday afternoon cooking.  If I can cook one meal, I can cook 4 meals.  All at one time.  My husband is always amazed when I am done (and several pots and pans are dirty!)  I usually have one crock pot meal as week as well.  Sometimes 2!  

Here are some of my favorite/fast recipes:

Balsamic Chicken in the Crock pot- 1 pound of chicken, cut into 3-4 oz pieces, sliced onion on each piece of chicken for flavor.  Mix 1/2 cup of balsamic vinegar with 1 tsp each of dried oregano, basil, and rosemary.  Add 1/2 tsp of thyme as well.  Stir together and pour over chicken.  Add 1 can of diced tomatoes (28 oz) over the chicken.  Cook on high for 4-6 hours.  Serve with angel hair pasta.
  

Chicken Tacos in the crock pot- 1 pound of chicken, 1 jar of salsa (16 oz) 1 package of taco seasoning, 1 can of black beans, 1/2 bag of frozen corn.  Pour in the crock pot. Cook on low for at least 8 hours.  When done the chicken will easily shred.

Taco Soup in the crock pot-  1 pound of ground beef (already browned), 1 can of corn, 1 can of diced tomatoes (28 oz) 1 can of kidney beans, 1 package of taco seasoning, 1 can of tomato sauce (8 oz) 1-2 cups of water.

Chili Mac- brown 2/3 lb of ground beef, add 2 cans of Mexican style stewed tomatoes, 2 1/2 cups of tomato juice, 4 oz can of green chili peppers, 1 tsp of chili powder, and bring to a boil.  Add 1 1/2 cups of uncooked elbow size macaroni and 1 can of pinto beans.  Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Chicken Fingers and Sweet Potatoes- cut one pound of chicken into strips, mix 4 tbsp of honey mustard and 4 tbsp of buttermilk in a bowl.  Coat the chicken strips with the honey mustard/buttermilk mix.  Coat with dried bread crumbs (about 1 cup) Bake at 450 degrees for 12 minutes, turning the chicken strips after 6 minutes.  Serve with homemade sweet potato fries.  Sweet potatoes cut into strips, painted with olive oil, topped with garlic salt, bake at 450 for 10 minutes.

Grilled chicken marinated in Italian dressing.  I usually serve this with roasted vegetable from the grill.  Red or green peppers, mushrooms (for husband and oldest daughter) and red potatoes. I put the veges in a bag, pour some olive oil over it and garlic salt, shake and put on grill.  They are so good!

Tacos, Sloppy Joes, Spaghetti- because with 2 kids running round let's keep it real. I usually eat a small helping of each of those items and fill up on the vegetable side dish (which is usually green beans, or a bag of steamed veges.) My kids will eat the veges as well. One like green beans, the other likes broccoli.   

Snacks are usually pretty predictable:  Greek yogurt with fruit, carrots and hummus, fruit (apple, orange, pear, banana, blueberries, kiwi) almonds, string cheese, scoop of peanut butter (definitely my weakness,) popcorn, and sometimes I grab a handful of M & M's from the office, or peanut butter filled pretzels (don't try them...you might like love them!)  The last few weeks I have been challenging myself not to eat anything after dinner.  This has been tough, but I have stuck to it.  I am hoping to lose those last few pounds before Rock the Parkway so I am in the best shape I can be.

As a nurse, I  know what I am supposed to eat.  I have taken health promotion/wellness classes.  I have taken care of kids that already have diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity...and they are just kids.  I know that I need a well balanced diet of protein, carbs and fat.  I try to make good choices every day and I am usually successful.  My husband (who has lost almost 60 pounds over the last few years) and I try to be good examples to our children in living an overall healthy lifestyle.  We exercise, provide healthy meals, limit screen time, encourage our kids to go outside, run, play, ride bikes, and take every opportunity we can to guide them in the right direction for a long healthy life.  What I eat is an example to my kids and a way of life I want them to know, carry on and live.  

Spring Break Fun

Last week Lauren was on Spring Break.  Thursday and Friday were gorgeous, and Mark and I took Friday off to spend the day with the girls.  Lauren had field trips Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and a St. Patty's day party on Thursday, so she was completely fine with being at daycare all week.  Friday morning, we headed down to Kaleidoscope with the girls.  

It's fun. It's free.  It's hands on activities.  It's creativity. Oh, and it was not crowded.  

Then we headed over to Crown Center and went to the free exhibit, Funville.  As we walked through there and played, I noticed that everything looked very familiar.  They had the same exhibit a few years back.   

Little Ms. Attitude is always willing to pose for a picture.  Thank you Addison.  

I made Lauren get up  here and pose, since it was the picture that I took right after she turned 2!  Can you believe how much she has changed!  

Lunch at Fritz's.  

Then an afternoon spent at the park.  It was a gorgeous 84 degree day.  Lauren enjoyed the rock wall, in flip flops and all.  She loves to climb.  

Addison (my girl in a boys body) played with sticks and dug in the dirt.  In a cute dress, and new sandals.  And the sticks came home with us.  Luckily I was able to keep them out in the garage.  Mark and I thought it would be a great idea to get our long runs in on this gorgeous Friday afternoon.  I ran 9 1/2 miles.  It was hot.  It was hard.  I did not have enough water or GU to get me through the run very easily.  Mark felt the same way after he did 6 miles.  What were we thinking???

Then Sunday afternoon we hosted a St. Patrick's Party with the neighbors and some friends we had in town from Des Moines.  16 people total.  8 kids and 8 adults.  Green beer, green liquor, green spinach dip, green popcorn, hot dogs, mac and cheese, pulled pork and potatoes, puppy chow, chocolate peanut butter pie...and a pasta salad I forgot about in the fridge.  Probably because we had SO much food.  It was a great afternoon with friends.  

Lauren and Riley had fun.  

Mark held baby Ryan for a long time and I begged for a 3rd baby in our  house.  Then I remembered the cost of daycare for an infant and I thought otherwise!  But, I still love babies.  

The kids had fun playing in the basement.  Girl toys and all.  After the basement was a complete mess, we put in a movie so everyone could relax.  Lauren decided to be a little mama to Mitchell (he is 2.)  She kept a very close eye on him.  The kids enjoyed popcorn and sugar cookies.  Zoe did too, apparently!  

The kids destroyed the basement...but I had it cleaned up after the girls went to bed in less than 30 minutes!  My and my OCD ways I had to clean it up myself after the girls went to bed.  That way everything could be put back in its place properly!  Plus, it was probably faster on my own.  Mark was impressed! 

Sunday night Lauren told me it was a great Spring Break.  I was so glad to hear that she had a fun week.  Now, one more quarter of school left and it is summer! 

We have so many fun summer plans and we are SO ready for Summer!  

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Lauren's Girl Scout troop marched in the Lee's Summit Emerald Parade today!  She was so excited to be part of the parade, throw candy to all the kids, and just hang out with her Girl Scout friends.  

We say a lot of people we knew, yelling at us, waving at us...and several other that sent me text pictures of us marching, but we did not even see them!  

 Addison and Mark dropped us off at the High School where the parade began, then they went and found a spot to watch us.  Addison stayed very warm in her winter coat and blanket.  The leprechaun was a huge hit, and it was a great parade for our little town.  

 Lauren loved it.  I had fun too, although it is kind of weird marching in the parade and everyone staring at you and all the girls....but fun anyway.  

We were one of the first groups in the parade, so we were done really early.  Lauren and I were able to walk back to Mark and Addison and enjoy the rest of the parade and get tons of candy.  

After the parade we all came home and took naps.  It was wonderful!  Lauren and I went shopping for a while before coming back home to watch some KU basketball.  

Lauren worked on her poster for school (due Monday) and Addison played by herself.  Is anyone surprised?  Nope.  Not me.  We are looking forward to a party at our house tomorrow for St. Patrick's Day and a perfect end to our Spring Break week.  

Maverick's Game

Sunday afternoon we celebrated my Mom's birthday in a suite at the Maverick's game.  If you recall, we did this last year as well.  It is a very fun way to celebrate Nana's birthday.  

We were the first to arrive.  Again, the girls were thrilled to be able to run around in the big suite!  Thanks again Gramps! 

It was a great game that went into overtime and then a shoot out.  The Mavericks ended up loosing, but it was still fun.  

We ate a lot...of nachos, hot dogs, chicken fingers, popcorn, cookies and brownies.  

The girls were in heaven drinking "pop" from a can...

Sophie assumed her position in Lauren's arms when my sister and her family arrived.  Lauren is a little mama to Sophie and I think Sophie loves the attention.  

Do you ever wonder why I have so many pictures of Addison and not so many of Lauren? Because Addison is ALWAYS smiling and willing to pose for a picture.  This is my best attempt of all 4 grand kids in a picture. Thank you Addison for cooperating...the rest of them...not so much.  

And thank you to Gramps and Nana for a great afternoon of fun at the hockey game.  

Mac made a special visit to our suite...thanks to Gramps.  He has a few connections with the Mavericks.  

Claire was scared to death of Mac, the rest of the girls loved him!  

But after a while, the girls were bored of the game.  Full of hot dogs, nachos, and junk...and ready just to chill and watch a movie on the I-pad.  It was a great afternoon and tons of fun.  Happy Birthday Nana B!