catching up

this is a catch up post since we've finished our cleanse (YAY!!!)
first, here is mckinlee dressed as a photographer for career day. isn't she cute?
after i picked her up from school on friday, we went, as fast as my little car would go, to whole foods to have my much-anticipated-celebratory-after-cleanse-treat. we walked around the bakery forever before we made up our minds. i felt like saying i'd take one of everything they had. but after much consideration our choices were:
a espresso cream filled cannoli and chocolate chocolate chip muffin top for mckinlee
and
a tiny white frosted cupcake and chocolate crackle walnut cookie for me!

that first bite was divine!
when we were finished at whole foods we headed over to marketplace to surprise chris by getting the coffee he likes. out front they had this amazing display of all different kinds of pumpkins, gourds, etc. mckinlee had to have her picture taken with all those pumpkins and the cutest little shopping cart.

that night we had salmon burgers. i bought them already prepared, but i think i could have made them better myself. i think i'll try that next time.
saturday chris' mom and dad came up for the day. their 52nd anniversary was this month, so we took them out to eat at this neat place called babe's. it's in downtown frisco by the traintracks and all the neat stuff around the restaurant makes for some really good pictures. there's some sort of museum, that was closed but you could look through the windows, that had an old car and fire truck that were so neat.
as we walked up to the restaurant, there was cotton growing just outside the museum. mckinlee thought it was the coolest thing!
if you look close you can see the old fire truck behind these doors. i just loved all these old doors!
this is an antique cream separator.
here are dee and buddy enjoying their catfish and pot roast.
and here we are (something funky is happening with the flash. we look so washed out!)
this was so cool~it was just a painting on the side of the building, but mckinlee put her arm so it would look like she was standing beside an old car!
her she is on an old tractor, isn't all that ivy pretty growing up on it?

mck and mama dee
this was a little old house that was the quaintest thing ever. i just love old stuff!
this was on the porch and i loved it. i think i'll frame this one.

we had a fun, busy weekend. now on to my fun, busy week. more pictures later!

ten things: capturing me right now

i was inspired by ali edwards to do a ten things about me post. so here goes...

1. i cannot wait to buy some coffee and actually drink it instead of putting it in my flower arrangements.

2. in the past 20 days, we have eaten 8 pounds of broccoli.

3. mckinlee went to school dressed for career day as a photographer~i was so proud! (apparently photographers wear jeans with heels, and a tank top layered under a long sweater with a camera slung sideways over their body. she was a little upset that she did not have a portfolio to take with her, but we did have just one day's notice i reminded her.)

4. i am getting so many darling ideas for danielle's baby shower.

5. i am wanting to get some new fall sweaters and shoes.

6. i am anticipating the treat mckinlee and i will enjoy after school on friday.

7. i am dreading the thought of the science fair project that we will have to do in the next couple of months.

8. i am getting so excited to meet my niece!

9. i am working everyday (or so) to clean out my embarrassing "junk room."

10. i can't wait to scrapbook the pictures of our beach vacation.


that was fun~~i think i will start doing that once a week! have a good thursday. next post will be what mckinlee and i ended up getting as a celebration of the end of my detox!!

here comes fall

blogger is still acting very weird to me. it would not let me start typing above the first picture. oh well. danielle inspired me to go to hobby lobby and stock up on some fall decor while it was 50% off. i got some really cute things.
i am so ready for fall this year. it's my favorite season to decorate for--i just love all the warm colors and smells associated with fall.
so nothing really new with the breakfast table. i already had the garland i just wound around the candlesticks. the placemats (i think) and the napkins were danielle's until she did her major cleanout of her previous house and they became mine! i am going to get some pumpkin candles when hobby lobby has them on sale.

i love these tea light holders i've had for a couple years. at night when they're lit, the kitchen looks so pretty.
this is my little arrangement on top of the refrigerator. i had everything but the pumpkin which i got today at hobby lobby. i just love getting out of my decorations and deciding where to put things that year. none of this stuff has ever been on the refrigerator, so it looks new to me!
this is the centerpiece for the dining room table. i got the table runner last year when kohl's had them clearanced. the colors are really pretty. i think i got the bowl at target or pier 1 and the fruit at michaels. the flower arrangement had also been danielle's and i inherited it. (it looks so cute. i hope she doesn't want it back! hee hee)
this arrangement is on the entry table. i got some of the pieces today (the sunflowers and the dark brown twig things) and just mixed them in with some i already had. i think it turned out pretty good.
here's the whole table. i think danielle gave me the pumpkins (or did i give some to her--i can't remember) anyway, i love them. they're sitting on a metal leaf tray that i got last year. i need to change out the picture since it's the summer one.
the only thing new here are the flowers (and the coffee beans and let me tell you they smell delicious. chris said he could have grabbed a handful and started chewing on them! 14 days without coffee will do that to a person!) anyway, got the flower at, you guessed it, hobby lobby and put them in hanging vase i had put away thinking i wouldn't use it.
this little niche had been empty for a while, so i got these today and put them in a vase i usually put on the dining room table. looks pretty good!
on the bookcase i just added some tea lights and a little bunch of flowers in the back.
thanks for taking a peek.
now i just need some cool weather.

trying to post...

i keep trying to post pictures, but blogger is being difficult and won't upload anything :( i was going to post pictures of my fall decor, but it's not happening. i will try again later.
haven't had a lot to post about. we finished week 2 of our detox. just 1 more week to go! mom and danielle came up to look for baby furniture, but i didn't have my camera. so, no pictures from me. we had a short but fun visit and got to eat at pho mac~so the day was fun!
having salmon for dinner tonight--got to figure out how to prepare it this time.
have a good weekend!

monday, monday

another monday. i really like mondays. i usually just stay home and clean/straighten up the house. today is my favorite kind of monday because it is dark and rainy~i love those kinds of days! i'm going to put on an old movie (most likely a musical~since no one wanted to watch musicals this weekend. well, ever, really) light some candles and enjoy my day cleaning.

the cleanse is...going. that's about all i can say. i feel good physically so that keeps me going. this time around it's affecting me much more mentally. i just crave sweets and carbs. we took the speaker out after the meeting to cheddars and i almost lost it. of course it didn't help that the person sitting on one side of me got ribs and mckinlee on the other side got a burger and fries. oh well~such is life. i made it through and was pround of myself.

here's my review on the spaghetti squash and marinara from last week...

if you're wondering if squash makes a good substitute for spaghetti noodles, let me put your mind at ease and answer you most assuredly, it does not.

the squash part was actually very good and it does just shred apart with a fork, but adding the marinara on the top was like eating sweet mush covered with tomatoes. needless to say, chris did not ask for seconds. i don't think he even finished his firsts!
the marinara was wonderful though and i've made it again and will probably use it in the future for regular sphaghetti.
last wednesday was the first day of our stampin' up class this year. we made these cute things: a bookmark showing the new in-colors, a technique example of how to do faux icicles and a darling slide card.
here's a close-up of the card. it was complicated but turned out very cute!


just a shot of what the corner of my counter looks like these days. this is right where my coffee maker usually sits. sniff.sniff.

here's my lunch one day this past week. i found pasta that is only made out of organic brown rice and water. i grabbed that bag up as soon as i could and i have to say, i actually crave it now. that broccoli is quite possibly the best broccoli i've ever had. i got a huge bag of it frozen at costco and it is really great. we saute it with olive oil and fresh garlic with a little seasoning on it. we've eaten loads of it!

my hibiscus was looking so incredible. it had 4 huge blooms, so mckinlee and i practiced taking close ups. i'm so glad we did because the next day is when all the rain started and the blooms were destroyed!

aren't the colors in these veggies beautiful? we've been making this wonderful stir-fry with red pepper, purple onion, squash, zucchini, asparagus and garlic...delish!

tomorrow is day 11 of our cleanse and we finally get to have meat. (i'm glad, but sure wish i could have some chocolate chip cookies instead!) i'm getting some salmon and chicken and will try to post my menu later. it will be much better than last week. someone may even want to try some of them this time!

what's been going on...

i will get back to my vacation recap soon.

here's what's been happening since friday.

mckinlee got the first fish award in her class for the year. the fish award is given to the person who showed a good attitude, was helpful, etc. her teacher called me the day before so chris and i would be sure to be at good morning riddle the next day. he said she is so respectful and comes in everyday with a smile and a great attitude. (i asked him if he had called the right parent. no, i didn't really. but i kind of thought it. apparently her great attitude starts when i drop her off at school :) anyway, we were proud of her and got some cute pictures of her.

here she is in line before they called her name
waiting for the dance to begin. they play wipeout and the kids who have received the fish award are supposed to dance

when mckinlee has gotten the fish award in years past, she won't so much as move a muscle when the music comes on. so here her friend olivia has apparently decided to take matters into her own hands and make mckinlee dance!

looking back at us

she will, however, dance when everyone else does. after all the announcements, etc. they play cha-cha slide and everyone dances--even the teachers and parents. (if you're wondering, no. chris did not dance!)

that brings me to friday night. this is the second year that we have done the standard process purification cleanse.
basically it's a 21-day organic detox for our toxin-filled bodies. on days 1-10 you drink these protein shakes that i must say are pretty good. (so good, in fact, mckinlee asks for them for a snack! that should tell you something.) you can also have all the vegetables and fruit you want, brown rice, lentils, green tea and 7 raw almonds a day. days 11-21 you can add in organic chicken and wild caught fish. (you are also taking between 9-11 supplements in pill form 3 times a day.) it's amazing learning about everyday things that you don't even think are harmful that are actually toxins affecting everything from your skin to digestion and headaches.

so...saturday evening we were going to a presentation at a friend's house to help us prepare for our "fun" 21 days.

but...before we made it to his house, we had to stop for one of these.

since we knew we wouldn't be seeing one of these anytime soon, we met some friends, who are also doing the cleanse, at jc's burger house. i don't know if that was the best burger i've ever had or the one after the cleanse i'm looking forward to eating, but it was pretty good!

did i mention their onion rings are to die for?

pat and mindy waiting to sink their teeth into all that beef and cheese...yum!

so our first day of cleansing, saturday, went pretty good. i made a vegetable jambalaya for dinner and we even all went for a walk.

i will not even discuss sunday and monday, except to say that apparently i have a boat-load of toxins in my body that were trying to get out however they could. sunday and monday were not good days.

and that, my dear friends, brings me to today.
finally, i feel good and energetic and ready to cook vegetables!

here was my lunch and i must say, it tasted just like corner bakery's chopped salad. well, minus the feta crumbles, bacon and dressing :)

i don't anticipate anyone trying to get the recipe for my meals this week, but here they are:

tuesday~~spaghetti squash and homemade, organic marinara (i have never in my life cooked spaghetti squash, but i've been told that after you bake it and shred the insides, it looks like spaghetti. i told mckinlee that and she said, "i don't think i'll be having spaghetti for dinner. hee hee!)

wednesday~~vegetable soup

thursday~~mushroom salad (this really sounds good. the mushrooms marinate all day in a vinaigrette sauce. yum.)

friday~~lentils (chris loves these. me...not so much.)

saturday~~sauteed veggies, garlic-chili-roasted broccoli

i'll let you know how it turns out.

have a great week!

excitement

this is mckinlee.

on the phone with danielle.
overcome with excitement...

at finding out that...

this precious baby, her new cousin, is a...

GIRL!!!!!!!!!