I'm usually in bed by now but I'm forcing myself to stay up to get a few loads of laundry done. I've been slacking on my weekend laundry duties. Our weekend time is so precious that if something away is calling us we listen and take off. Last Saturday I spent the day in Grand Rapids with Jordan. We met up at the Grandville mall. We had lunch, shopped, and then we picked up Ty for dinner and ice cream. I don't feel guilty about leaving the laundry and other things that need to be done when I'm spending the day like that. I know where my priorities are.

And then Sunday...... Craig had just gotten home from being in Indy the last 4 days. He was going to Battle Creek where he was meeting a guy who bought some wheels off of him. I decided to ride along. I miss my hubby when he's gone and even if it is riding along on a road trip we both enjoy the time together. I read my new "kayaking in Michigan" books aloud during the drive. When the wheel delivery was done we turned around and headed towards Chicago and hit the "Bass Pro" and "Cabelas" stores. We finished buying the last few things we needed for our kayaks (paddles, etc).

So who has time to hang around home and do laundry when there are so much better things to do?

OK, I just heard the dryer buzz... gotta go.

Light at the end of the tunnel

Well, we are now in the middle of March and I really get excited thinking that next month is April already. Every time I look out the window I see male robins fighting for territory. We are getting more glimpses of sun and a tease of warmer weather here and there. Yes, I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm still doing really well on my quest to lose weight and get healthier. This is one of my favorites, baked tilapia over asparagus. I bake about 10 of these at one time and freeze them. I'm loving this diet! I'm at 25 pounds now!

Our living room makeover is almost done. Notice the beautiful new hardwood floor..... I will never go back to carpet. I am in LOVE with my floor. It's so refreshing to walk downstairs to this in the morning. Just have a few finishing touches to do like wall decor and curtains.

And in addition to the floors I treated myself to a new piece of furniture as well. Meet my new end table. I found it at an antique store in Coldwater. The minute I saw it I just had to have it.

It's old and beautiful and has a gorgeous grey marble top. I couldn't be more pleased with it.

Caleb bought a new video game that he and Bailey enjoyed last weekend.

Never really understood the fascination of video games but I will admit that I am hooked on "Angry Birds" on my iphone.

Jordan was home for 9 days over her spring break. She had her wisdom teeth out on Monday which knocked her off her feet for four days. She literally barely moved from the lazy chair to her bed for four solid days. Finally on Thursday Craig and I convinced her to go to the Roadhouse with us. Then on Friday she started to come around. On Friday night we went to dinner at my parents so Jordan could spend a few hours with Gram and Pa-Pa.

It was great having her home.

After Jordan left yesterday I noticed this note she left on the cupboard in the kitchen. I sure do love that girl!

And not to leave Caleb out.... I saved this note from a few months back. I left for work one morning feeling awful with a bad head cold. After a long exhausting day I could barely drag myself out to my car. When I opened my car door this is what I found on my steering wheel.

Do I have the best kids or what?

In my happy place.....

I've been neglecting my blog lately so I thought I better do a blog post so you know we are all still alive. I haven't been out with my camera at ALL for weeks so I had to dig up this photo of a bluejay that I took a month ago or so.

Life seems so simple these days and I am loving that. It's that time of year where I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of spring but at the same time content with the monotony. I will be so happy to hook up the trailer and hit the rivers in our kayaks but for now I am enjoying the peace of no commitments or obligations. Spring and summer will fill me up with all of that very soon.

We ripped the carpet out of our living room the week after Christmas and have been walking around on really ugly floors. Finally, our new hardwood floor is being installed tomorrow!!!! I should have a new floor when I get home from my Weight Watchers meeting tomorrow night. I'm sure I'll have a post dedicated to my new living room soon.... stay tuned.

And speaking of Weight Watcher.... I am doing AWESOME. I've lost 22 pounds since the beginning of January. I'm averaging over 2 pounds a week. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I could actually do this. My whole way of eating, shopping and planning meals has TOTALLY changed. I have my moments where I get tired of it but not near as many as you would think. For the most part I've really enjoyed it. It's been almost a game to figure up food point values, read labels when shopping, and figure out what restaurants I can go to and get good things that are good for me. I think one reason this has been successful for me is that I love healthy foods. I never crave sweets. My down fall was pastas, pizza, potatoes, breads, etc. If I can say anything bad about this is that it is very time consuming. I spend hours on the weekends shopping and cooking for the week ahead. But it been a priority that I have made and it's been a good thing! I'm hoping to have lost 30 pounds by summer and if I can reach my ultimate goal of 40 pounds I will be thrilled! Oh, and Craig decided to join me when he saw good it was working for me. Craig has lost 13 pounds!

Jordan is coming home Friday and will be home all next week on spring break! I miss my girl.

Nice Weekend!

Jordan was home this weekend! She hadn't been home since Christmas break. We spent the day together Saturday... lunch, shopping and then we met Craig for dinner.

The best part of her being home was seeing how happy she is. She is just glowing and I LOVE seeing her like this. She's doing so well, loves school, has a lot of wonderful friends. We've come a long way from her first weeks at college. She got an adorable new haircut. I didn't know if I was going to like it but it looks great on her!

The frigid temps have finally broken. We got up to 45 today and we felt like we were having a heat wave.

Last weekend was the Super Bowl. Here's Caleb and Bailey (and Seadra too) sporting their Green Bay loyalties! The Super Bowl is the only football game each year that Craig and I will watch. I actually enjoyed it this year. Good game, good company.

And I leave you this adorable face.

Digging Out

Well, it's over for now and most people are still digging out. I stayed home from work today.... too afraid to drive and the county declared a snow emergency and ordered no one on the roads except for emergencies. I did go into work this evening for about 4 hours and was sorry I did as I drove home in what seemed like another blizzard but I guess it's just lake effect. I love this kind of weather and all the hype that goes with it. I love the beauty of it all. And you all know I HATE driving in it.

Craig and Caleb have been doing a wonderful job of keeping trails blown out in the back yard for the dogs.

And paths to my bird feeders!

Pretty deep, huh?

Fiona hates to go outside in this. She runs and hides when she knows you are getting ready to put her outside. But surprisingly, once she's out there she loves to play in the snow more than the other two.

Zoe tolerates it pretty well. But Zoe tolerates everything. She follows me everywhere and is just happy to be with me. I LOVE that girl!

And Seadra does her business in record time and then cries to be let back inside.

I just watched the evening news and they are reporting some frigid temps in about a week that may bring a lot of lake effect..... Craig said that since this was the year he sold the snowmobiles that this would be a really snowy year. Hope you all are warm and safe! Enjoy the snow!

What's Up?

What's up? Not much... just in the middle of winter dreaming of warmer days. Craig and I took a drive out to the cottage last weekend. It was cold and lonely out there. It's a whole different world out there in the winter.

We are FINALLY close to getting our hardwood floor installed in the living room. We were messing around with a contractor that was giving us the runaround and now we have a new one we are pleased with and are making good progress. The stairs and landing upstairs are getting new carpet too. I'm so excited. I've been looking at curtains and I can hardly wait to have things new and beautiful.

Craig bought me a new garden swing today. Yes, it's the end of January and we are buying outdoor furniture. We waited too long last year and the one I wanted was sold out so we jumped on it this year and bought it as soon as Lowe's put them out. OK, the snow can melt anytime now.

You might have heard about the tragedy in our hometown this past week. We live in a small close knit community and on Monday a 30 year old mother came up missing. She just seemed to vanish. There were organized searches, prayer vigils, and our quiet little town turned into a national media frenzy. Sadly on Thursday she was found murdered along with another young mother. Things like this never happen so close to home. Our whole town is shocked and in mourning. Luckily they have arrested and charged the guy responsible. So sad......

Jordan is LOVING college. No more calls home sobbing, no more homesickness, has LOTS of friends. She couldn't wait to get back to school when she was home over Christmas, in fact she went back almost a week early. I miss her but I'm so happy she doing so well.

Caleb and Bailey are doing really well too. We wish we got to see Bailey more often. Between school and work for both of them they are really busy.

I'm still very excited about my Weight Watchers. I'm making progress and so proud of the fact that I haven't thrown in the towel. I'm actually doing it and it's getting easier as time goes on. Craig has been really supportive and he's even doing it too. Last night I went to Mom and Dad's for dinner. I told Mom I could eat pretty much anything as long as it was low carb. She made me the most wonderful salad loaded with fresh veggies, a grilled steak and some cantaloupe for desert. It was awesome. I can do this!!!!

Happy Weekend All.....

I love me some Skinny Cow

This is my new favorite treat. You gotta try this stuff. Check out the website and then pick some up at the grocery store.