One Year.

Happy Tuesday to you!

Today's post is just a bunch of random thoughts dumped out....sometimes I come on here to blog with no rhyme or reason as to what I'm going to say, and I just let it spill on out. IT's kind of therapeutic that way, I think, and most of the time it works in my favor. :)

 

Today I had a lot of errands to run. Mike took a ay of leave so that he could drive me - I had an eye appointment that my eyes were going to be dilated at so I needed my chauffeur.

 I rewarded him with a herry limemade.

(Okay, okay - it was really for me!)

 

 

I had to run to the library, grocery store and post office - you can check out my grocery haul from Publix here if you'd like! We did not need much this week, just a few staples and sale items.

My family goes through string cheese and fruit like you would not BELIEVE, so I had to stock up.

 

 

But most importantly, I wanted to say that on Sunday, I realized...

 

I've been in remission

ONE YEAR.

 

And that's all, folks. Happiest week of my life.



Weekend Update and Menu Plan Monday!

Hey ya'll! Did you have a good weekend? We did. It was SO relaxing. In my old age (haha), I have really come to appreciate and enjoy weekends like that. Weekends where you can just do whatever it is that you want to do, and whatever pace you'd like to do it at.

Except when the weekends over, reality is back and your house is a mess.

But I digress. :)

 

Well, to start with, Sara brought home her first note from a little boy.

An early Valentines Day note.

And he wants her to come for a "date" at his house to play Wii-U.

 I'm not ready for this.

 

 

Friday night we rewarded the girls with ice cream - they don't get rewards often, but we had made a deal with June that if she did not cry at drop-off at school all week long, and she practiced really hard at listening and obeying the first time her parents ask her to do something - that she could get ice cream on Friday night. Well, you know my 4 year old loves her ice cream and she was REALLY good all week long - so out we went!

Except....when we got there, Sara was the only one who wanted ice cream.

June preferred chicken strips from Arby's, and then she fell asleep before she got to eat them!

 

 

Saturday we let Daddy sleep in and we were lazy, too! Did some chores, played a lot.

Then Sara and I had a "mommy daughter date" at the mall - she request these every once in a while

and I am happy to take her up on them. I love it just as much as she does!

So we got all dressed up and headed up. She got her a new pair of shoes at JCP ($5.97 - SCORE!),

I got a new dress at JCP ($11 - SCORE!), she picked out a super adorable scarf at The Childrens Place, June got some much-needed new uniform skirts and I also cashed in a gift certificate at Sephora for Prada Candy perfume. (Smells SO god....thank you Mike!) She was able to ride the motorized animals around....heaven help me when she turns 16!

 

 

That evening, we had friends over for a while and then went out to eat! :)

 

Sunday was SUPER lazy and full of church, just the way I like it. Here's a little OOTD of the girls & I from our morning outfits. We actually had a few minutes to spare before running out the door!

 

 

 

 

Now - our menu plan for the week!

I am SO ashamed to say we did awful last week. We ate out FOUR TIMES.

Which means we're carrying over a ton of meals this week.

I'm challenging myself to cook supper EVERY SINGLE NIGHT this week.

I'll report next Monday. :)

 

Monday: Herb Roasted Chicken, roasted potatoes/carrots, and corn

Tuesday: chicken noodle soup (with the leftovers & broth)

Wednesday: Minestrone, rolls

Thursday: garlic chicken (old WW recipe, in the crockpot), cowboy beans, turnip greens

Friday: pancakes & sausage

Saturday: leftovers/clean out the ridge/easy night

Sunday: lunch will be cheese tortellini with spinach and diced tomatoes in alfredo sauce, salad

Supper will be tacos (1/2 ground chuck, 1/2 black beans), yellow rice

 

It's also been requested I make cupcakes, so those will be coming up as well. :)

 

Ya'll head over to Organizing Junkie, check out the inspiration and don't forget to link up! Ya'll have a great day!

 

Week in Review - and Something Special!

This week has FLOWN by!

Is it really Friday? I can't hardly believe it.

 

Isn't this coffee cup so ute?! Target for $2.99

You know you want need one!

 

Monday - I had an appointment at Emory with my oncologist/APL doctor.

We were checking up on the GVHD and things are looking up.

The rash was healing well, yada yada.

 

Tuesday I rushed around like a madwoman - we had ladies prayer that morning, lunch afterward, then I hit up THREE grocery stores (Publix, Fresh Market & Target) - you can check that haulage out here:

 

(I listed all the totals in the downbar of the video.)

 

Wednesday...I don't even remember what I did that day.

How's that even possible to forget a whole day when it was just 48 hours ago?!

Chemobrain? Mommy-brain? Something?

 

Thursday I went back to Emory to see my BMT doctor for another checkup with the GVHD.

The rash is still improving, which is good. The not-so-good is that the GVHD is effecting my lipids and most importantly, my liver. My liver enzymes are quite high and so is my bilirubin.

They changed almost all of my medicines in one way or another.

This should help....but I'm not fearful.

Honestly? The worst thing about it right now is that a) I'm super tired because my vit D levels are so low they're not even detected; and b) I've got mouth sores. And hey - if tha's all I have to complain about, life is pretty splendid!

 

             

 

This goofball (better known as SareBear in our house) and I have been working on finding ways to use the word splendid.

She read it in a book the other day and let's just say....

it has opened her splendid eyes to a splendid new way of a splendid life!

 

And today it's FINALLY FRIDAY!

I've just been working on getting a lot accomplished online this morning and am getting ready to rn a slew of errands. The weekend is shaping up t a be  a nice, relaxing one and I'm ready!

 

Before I let ya'll go, I wanted to share this. My friend cross stitched this for me as a surprise and it bring me to tears that she - or anyone - would do something so special for me. It's going to be framed and hung up very soon!

 

 



Meal Plan Monday! 1.26.15-

Monday: chicken and dumplings

Tuesday: pancakes, eggs and sausage

=Wednesday: whole roasted chicken, corn, roasted red potatoes

Thursday: chicken noodle soup

(with leftover chicken and broth made from it)

Friday: salmon, sweet potato and broccoli chowder, rolls

Saturday: minestrone, rolls

Sunday: crockpot garlic chicken, turnips, cowboy beans

 

This week is fairly simple - and I like it that way.

I'm excited to roast a whole chicken because I've never done it before.

I will (hopefully) make a post separately about that

because I have been saving the ends of my vegetables

to make delicious broth with it for soup the next day.

I also have never made minestrone so look for that one, too!

I'm using How Jen Does It

has the recipe for the minestrone.

She's never done me wrong - go check her out!

 

Also, if you want some inspiration - or you write your own meal plan and share it -

go link up at Organizing Junkie.

 

Even though the weeks meals are fairly simple, the week itself....
is fairly busy.
I went to Atlanta today for a check on my GVHD
These trips take all day.
Tuesday night is free, Wednesday night is church, Thursday I go back to the ATL,
Friday night is soccer registration for the girls,
Saturday is a birthday party for June that she will attend with her daddy,
Sara has proclaimed it a "Sara and Mama date-day"
and Sunday is church.

Is it bed time yet?

 

 

 

Easy Peanut Butter Cookie recipe - And Video!

Today I thought I would share with you a quick little recipe that my family loves.

I'll be the first to tell you that I'm NOT the one to bake,

but this cookie is super easy to make - and only uses 3 ingredients!

Can't beat that. :)

 

 

Easy Peanut Butter Cookies

 

1 cup sugar

1 cup peanut butter

1 egg

 

Mix all three ingredients well.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

 

To be honest I usually make a double or triple batch because this only turns out about 7-8 cookies.

That will last us about half a week since I send them for lunches and things like that.

I even made them for the girls Sunday school class last weekend and haven't heard any complaints. :)Horrible baker tested, kid approved!

That's a win in my book!

 

Here's the video I made for my YouTube chanel for the recipe.

It's my first ever cooking video, so please be patient and kind. :)

 

 

 

I hope ya'll have a great day today.

Please say a prayer for me - I am headed to Atlanta for a checkup

on my Graph Versus Host Disease.

I have an update coming this week on YouTube and via blog...

I know God can make it a very, very positive one!

Meal Plan Monday - and a Life Update!

I'm not going to say it.

 

I'm not going to say - "Hey ya'll! I'm baaaaack! I'm going to get into a regular posting schedule! My life has been cray-cray in the nay-nay but I'm going to carve out time for the old blog!"

 

Nope. Not gonna do it.

 

(But I am going to try my best!)

 

First I'll share our weekly meal plan, & then I'll get to the good stuff...

...like the dreaded "update post".

 

Monday: Lunch (everybody was home due to the holiday) steak quesadillas,

 black bean and Havarti dill nachos.

Supper: fried pork chops (seasoned with dry Italian mix, seasoned salt, pepper, oregano), mashed potatoes & homemade gravy, Tuscan steamed broccoli

 

Tuesday:

prosciutto pasta with homemade (from scratch) tomato cream sauce. I'm using this recipe for it - and of course I'm changing a few things up, so I may make a video and share with you guys! I'm adding spinach, parmesan and diced roma tomatoes to the dish. Served with an arugula and spinach salad.

 

Wednesday:

I have an all-day doctors appointment in Atlanta, so it will be sandwiches, leftovers, or pancakes.

Something totally easy and with as least fuss as possible.

(Least fuss? Less fuss? Pardon me, I'm no English major....)

 

Thursday:

Chicken korma, sticky white rice, peas, and naan bread.

Don't get excited - its a jarred sauce from Trader Joe's. :)

But it's DELICIOUS1

 

Friday:

Spinach lasagna roll-ups and salad

Recipe courtesy of the lovely How Jen Does It. Seriously, it's so good. I made them one night a few weeks ago and my family loved them so much, they requested them the next night!

 

Saturday:

beef tis in gravy with mushrooms, corn, and rice

 

Sunday:

chicken and dumplings

 

I'm also cooking a meal for our good friends family this week - he lost his mother and so we are taking some food over there every day. I'm going to make a spaghetti bake one night.

 

If YOU have a meal plan - please share! i'd love to see!

 

 

 

Now on to the life update part!

 

Life is good. It ain't perfect....but it's good.

 

 

First of all, can you BELIEVE how big this girl has gotten?!

Sara is 7 now. Wait, excuse me.

She's SEVEN AND A HALF (even though she just turned 7 in September).

And you better not forget it, either!

She astounds me every day wit her childlike wisdom.

Sometimes I wonder how I produced something like that.

She is an easy child (aside from her sassiness, which I have to admit she gets honest)

and she is a straight-A student.

 

June is doing well, too.

She is not an easy child.

I still love her. Even when she is throwing herself on the floor

when we're getting ready for something and she doesn't want to wear her outfit.

Sorry chick, you cannot wear your nightgown, tights with horses on them and cowboy boots to school. You have a uniform.

Not that you look crazy or anything....

 

Mike's good, I'm good.

I'm going to be posting my 6 month transplant update later this week.

I've been having issues with GVHD - so stay tuned for that, especially if you have any advice

or know someone dealing with it.

 

It's been so warm the past few days in Alabama!

 

 

We've been enjoying LOTS of time at the park -

which I'm a fan of, because I can get some reading done -

and it's warm enough for t-shirts, sandals and the best of all -

NO SOCKS!

NO JACKET!

 

Does life get any better? :)



Menu Plan Monday! 12/8/14

Hey ya'll! How are you doing? I hope everyone is having or had a great Monday.

I had a really lovely day. After I dropped J of at school,

I came home and got some things done before our ladies prayer.

Then, the ladies, some of the husbands and our visiting preacher had lunch together - and also had a blast! I love days like this where unexpected things are so much fun.

 

Last week I did really, really good with our menu plan.

I cooked everything except one dish, which we ended up having sandwiches that night.

 

Here's this weeks - and don't forget to head over to Organizing Junkie> to link up!

 

Monday: leftovers

Tuesday: french toast and apples/bananas

Wednesday: Easy Rice Meatballs> in the crockpot, with egg noodles and steamed broccoli

Thursday: sandwiches (we are going out on a church outing)

Friday: beans and Mexican cornbread

Saturday:I have a shopping date with my oldest girl :)

Sunday: pesto ranch chicken (crockpot), boiled potatoes and somet ype of veg from the freezer

 

The beans are literally just 1 can of northenrn beans and 1 can of pinto, maybe 1 can of kidney, with some seasonings. Mike's grandma makes it and it is SOOOO good! The Mexican cornbread is just regular cornbread with jalapenos, cheese, whole kernal corn, maybe black beans, etc. thrown in. One of my faves!

 

Here is the YouTube video I made for this weeks menu plan: