Mandy and Jace

I am enjoying a very WINDY Monday. They said on the news it was going to be windy and funny how they always get that prediction right. No joke, I’m looking out my window at a little girl holding on to her dad because the wind is trying to push her over. Yikes!
I am in the beginning stages of planning for Thanksgiving. I know it’s a little bit early but we are planning on having it at our house this year, and I want to make sure I have everything that I’m going to need. I can’t believe it is already almost November. Pretty soon we will be getting ready for Christmas and I’m nowhere near ready for that.
If everyone could be praying for our Pastors and Youth Pastors who are on a mission trip in India this week. They will be dedicating churches and doing ministry there and we want to be sure they stay safe and come back VERY soon. I miss my friend, and would really like her to come back in one piece. India is way too far away.

Here is this week’s plan.
Tonight: Steak, lemon spaghetti and green beans (I do realize those really don’t go together but they all sounded good)
Tuesday: Tex-mex pork chops and rice
Wednesday: on-the-go burritos
Thursday: not sure yet. Maybe some kind of soup with the leftovers in the freezer.
Friday: date night!

Happy eating.

I have a rocky past with reading books. I hated to read through school. We had to read so many books to graduate and it was like pulling teeth to get me to read. Then when I did actually wonder into the library to pick a book to read I would find the shortest one possible and flip through it hoping that some of it would seep in. Most of the time it didn’t. When I graduated however, I found some extra time that needed to be filled so I started reading. I read tons of girly books like The Devil Wears Prada and P.S. I Love You way before they were movies. Now I have gotten into this phase to where I have several books at I time that I’m reading. I keep one by my bed to read at night, one in my purse and also several loaded onto the kindle on my iphone. I still typically read girly books but I mix it up with some “smart books” too.

Over the past couple of months I have read too many books to tell you about but I can give you some of my favorites.


The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
I decided to pick it up and see what all the hype was about seeing as everyone had read it and couldn’t get enough of it. I really ended up liking this book even though I hated it through the first half. The book was slow and pretty boring. But, once they got the characters established and the story going it became a book that I just couldn’t put down. It has mystery, suspense, love and a good ending, couldn’t ask for much more.


Velvet Elvis
I have read this three times now and have a full notebook of notes after every time. It is written by Rob Bell, who is one of my all time favorite speakers and authors. He sums up Christianity so well and makes it make sense in a modern world. I think he does a great job of helping the church evolve with the times as the people evolve with the times but, he also is sure not to lose sight of where we came from. While I didn’t agree with every word in this book, It made me think harder than I have in a very long time about my faith and where it is going.


Heart of the Matter
Your typical upscale girl’s husband cheats on her and now she is left to pick up the pieces of her marriage and life. I know, it might as well be every lifetime movie ever made but, I wanted a girly book and I got it. It was actually a pretty good read.

Well, we had a wonderful weekend with the most amazing friends ever. Saturday we went bowling with our Quarterlife group at church and while I am a TERRIBLE bowler, I had fun trying, and they didn’t laugh at me too much. Then Sunday afternoon after church we all went to the park and played disc golf. Once again I wasn’t very good but I was better at that than I was at bowling, and by the last hole I was really getting decent and enjoying myself. That is definitely something we will be doing more often.

This week we are having pasta. I have been wanting it for the past couple of weeks and finally put it on the list. That is my favorite dish that we make. I think we could eat it every week and be perfectly happy. We are also having pizza and all kind of other bad foods that I shouldn’t be eating, but I think I’m just going to run double because it is just so good.

Here’s the plan.
Tonight: chicken pasta in a spicy veal cream sauce
Tuesday: cheesesteak sandwiches
Wednesday: breakfast bacon pizza
Thursday: take out after practice
Friday: date night

Happy eating!

Last weekend we were invited to go to South Padre Island to a motorcycle rally with my family and some of the other riders we know. We drove the truck with a trailer attached so that if anyone broke down we could just load them up and trailer them home instead of wasting time fixing the bike. I don’t think we realized just how far it was to Padre, though.

By the time we all got there we were exhausted, and I can’t even begin to imagine how all of the bikers felt. But, after a good nights sleep almost everyone was good to go the next morning. Notice I said almost.

I don’t know why, but I always get sick either on the weekend or on vacation. I can’t get sick on a weekday when I can get out of work. Nope! So of course, Saturday morning I woke up with some sort of demon bug that caused me to feel like crap, no I’m not pregnant. I managed to pull myself out of bed around lunch time because I was determined to not let all of that driving go to waste. Once we got on South Padre we met all of the bikers at a seafood restaurant where I fulfilled another one of my goals. I tried MahiMahi and liked it (at least going down, bleh)! Sorry, I didn’t take any photos of me with the fish. Didn’t think about it at the time.

Then we went to the beach. I LOVE the beach so I pushed aside my sickness and had fun. This particular beach was strange though. There were people driving on it. So we had to dodge cars and…

motorcycles with interesting characters on them. Someone please call What Not To Wear, this lady needs help immediately.

Sunday we woke up bright and early and headed home. We made the 12 hour drive back with 6 motorcycles, a truck with a trailer, and a very sick passenger. Can we say torture??? We actually had a blast and would do it again, but if we did we would either fly or take a couple more days for travel.

Last weekend Jace and I went on an adventure. When I say adventure, I mean it. We went to South Padre Island with a bunch of motorcycles to the bike rally that is held there every year. Don’t panic, I have much more on the trip later in another post with lots and lots of photos. Now, I’m trying to get the pile of laundry that is the size of Everest done, re-stock our kitchen, unpack, clean up the house and recuperate after our 12 hour drive home. Needless to say, I think the meals are going to be pretty simple this week. We are once again doing a stir fry. They are so quick and healthy that it has become a staple meal in our house. As soon as I can I’ll post an outline on how to make our stir-frys. Then you can change out different proteins and veggies and make it your own.

Here’s this weeks plan.
Tonight: chicken, squash and zucchini stir fry
Tuesday: beef fajitas
Wednesday: nachos with leftover fajitas
Thursday: take out after practice
Friday: date night!

Happy eating!