Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

 Hey there!!  I missed last week’s post, so here we go for this week.  Hope everyone is doing well.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:
Redonkulous!!  It’s been in the 30s all last week, and rained over the weekend.  We are looking at 50s and 60s for the upcoming week…here’s hopin’.

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:
Coffee with Hot for Cookie Creamer and an Entenmanns’ Chocolate Donut.  I can’t seem to get enough of these donuts.  It might have something to do with the fact that my 19-year-old son likes to eat THREE of them when he comes home late at night from work.

AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:
The trees finally have some green on them.  I’m waiting for the trees across the street to bloom with their beautiful white flowers.  No one seems to know what kind they are, but they are so pretty.

ON TODAY’S TO DO LIST:
Home school – cursive with a left-handed boy #challenges
Laundry
Cleaning I didn’t do this weekend
Writing for this week’s blogbattle.

CURRENTLY READING:
I recently read “The Girl on the Train” by Paula Hawkins.  It was good, a bit dark and twisted, but good.  I kept reading it just to see how it would all turn out.  I’m fascinated by the depths of the imagination of an author when writing a story like this.

After I read that I needed something a lot lighter, so I read “The Best Medicine” by Tracy Brogan.  She did not disappoint; again she had me laughing with the things her characters say.  A 35-year-old plastic surgeon meets a 27-year-old handsome (of course) guy who is drunk after crashing a stolen jet ski into a dock.  She is called to the ER to take care of the gash on the side of his face.  Another fun read, as she enters the dating world via a dating web site, yet fighting the attraction to the younger hooligan she stitched up.  She has a list of requirements for the perfect man, and just maybe he isn’t the kind of guy she first perceives him to be.  This is the second book in the Bell Harbor Novel series and some of the characters from the first book make an appearance, like Fontaine the interior decorator…love him!!

ON THE TV TODAY:
The Voice will be fun to watch.  The current coaches are bringing in some of the old coaches to help with the team members that are left.  Looking forward to see Cee Lo Green, he was one of the original coaches and always very entertaining.

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:
I need more variety, I get stuck on the same things sometimes.

Hamburger, Fries, Deviled Eggs
Lasagna Pasta, Salad
Cream of Chicken and Rice Soup with Turkey Bacon Club Sandwiches
Chicken Parmigiana, Chicken Flavored Fettuccini noodles, Green Beans, Italian Herb and Cheese Bread
Italian Beef Sandwiches
Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, Garlic Bread, Salad (trying this one again)

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:
Doing some creative writing as I have joined #blogbattle.  So much fun for me and I am really enjoying it.  I always wanted to write fictional stories, but never got around to it, this gave me the nudge I needed to just do it.  I was very nervous posting my first story; it was like sending your child out in the world for the first time, scary, but at the same time exhilarating.  Plus the #blogbattle community is so encouraging and fun to be a part of.

NEW RECIPE I TRIED OR WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:
Being that it was cold and raining on Saturday, I made Cream of Chicken with Rice Soup with Turkey Bacon Club Sandwiches.  Need to tweak it a bit, the flavor wasn’t exactly what I was looking for.  It probably didn’t help that my daughter and I spent a good part of Friday afternoon talking about how we wanted the soup from the little diner in town.  We should have gone there for lunch; I still have a taste for it.  Anniehow….

I also made the Banana Split Cookies that Carrie shared.  OMG…these are like eating a rainbow sprinkled with sunshine…SO good!!

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA:

Liv’s Photography ©2015

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES (PRAYERS OR DEVOTIONALS):

Linking-up with Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom.

 Hey there!!  Enjoyed my spring break last week, didn’t do much of anything, read a couple of books (big surprise, lol) I just have to tell you about ;-).  This is what I’ve been up to, hope you have a great week!!

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE IS:
Started out a little gloomy, but now it’s sunny and warm, in the 70s.  Looks like Mother Nature has decided to stay for the party…60’s all week…that’s what I’m talking about!!

ON THE BREAKFAST PLATE THIS MORNING:
Coffee and an Entenmanns’ Chocolate Donut.

AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW:
I am watching the construction guys put up the siding on the new house behind us.  As I mentioned before, my mom has a little contest for all of us to pick the color, the winner gets a Subway gift card.  I won last time, and this time I picked the color beige, we had a couple of those, a couple of reds and a blue.  And the color of the house is?!?!…gray…the house is gray.  (cue the defeating cymbal crash).  It’s not even a nice gray, kinda drab.  But we will soon try again, there’s another house right next to it.

RIGHT NOW I AM:
Finishing up this post, working on fixing the other laptop and enjoying some bread pudding!! Ahhhh…multitasking!!

AS I LOOK AROUND THE HOUSE:
It’s nice and clean, enjoyed cleaning this weekend, with the windows open.

ON TODAY’S TO DO LIST:
Laundry.  Also working on trying to get my son’s laptop working again.  It says it’s connected to the Internet, but it really isn’t.  As we enter in the final stretch of school, I’d like to get it working again, so we can finish out using it, and hold off on getting a new one.  Was scouring the Internet yesterday on all the geeky tech sites, tried all kinds of things thinking this has to be it, but no such luck.  Going to just restore the whole thing.

CURRENTLY READING:
So here’s the books I’ve read…

It Had To Be Him by Tamra Baumann – Megan has always been considered by her family to be a screw up.  When she becomes pregnant and her boyfriend leaves her, she must return home to a town where her father is the Mayor, one brother is the Doctor, another brother is the Sheriff, and her sister runs the very private hotel to the stars.  Her boyfriend Josh, comes looking for her and their daughter, and wants a second chance.  Meg and her family don’t want anything to do with him.  She thinks he left her because she got pregnant, but he needs to let her know the real reason…in time.  It gets really interesting and the characters come alive when Josh shows up and gets shot by the shotgun toting grandma, who is an excellent marksman, but only grazes his arm.  He finds himself facing the law, (one brother) needing a doctor (the other brother) and needing a place to stay (the sister).  I loved Meg’s determination to prove her family wrong about her, and also love how this story actually made me laugh out loud.

Crazy Little Thing by Tracy Brogan.  This is another laugh out loud funny book.  Recently divorced Sadie finds herself spending the summer along with her two kids at the home of her Aunt Dody.  Sadie soon finds out that also staying at the house are her two cousins, Dody’s sons, Jasper a chef at a fancy restaurant, and Fontaine an interior designer.  This book is written in Sadie’s perspective, and I found myself reading it fairly fast at times, because that just seems how Sadie’s mind works.  Sadie is fluent in sarcasm, and with Dody and Fontaine, you never know what is going to come out of their mouths.  Dody likes to use the wrong words when she has a conversation, and is just oblivious to her mistakes.  Add in the handsome, house sitting Doctor, and you definitely have a fun read!!

ON THE TV TODAY:
The Voice is in the finals.  I really don’t know which team I want to win, so much good talent.  I need to finish one episode of The Good Wife.  I’m looking forward to June when Devious Maids starts again.

ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:
Lasagna Pasta, garlic bread
BBQ Breaded Pork Chops, Rice, Broccoli/Cauliflower and bread crumbs, crescent rolls
Swiss Steak Supper with Hawaiian Rolls
Pork Fajitas
Crock-Pot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti

WHAT I AM CREATING AT THE MOMENT:
I have a kit to make some stepping stones for the garden out of plaster.  Maybe I’ll have the boys help me make them.  I won’t have them help me paint them, since they have flowers on them and are very girly, LOL.  But the directions say the bottom can be decorated as well, so I might have them put their hand prints in them and design something around that.

Created a new look for my blog.  With the warm weather and the spring cleaning, wanted to change it up.  That is also a current picture (as in Easter day current).  The ones I had up before were from a couple of years ago.

NEW RECIPE I TRIED OR WANT TO TRY THIS WEEK:
My new recipe for this week is Crock-Pot Cheesy Chicken Spaghetti, looks really interesting, will share the results next week.

But I have to mention I made the Lasagna Pasta on Saturday, after a day of cleaning, it was so simple to make, and a good hearty meal without all the fuss.  As I was spooning mine onto my plate, I’m thinkin’….hmmm…I bet olives would taste good in this.  I had some in the fridge, cut them up and added it to mine.  A very delicious addition, I must say, adds a little kick and nice texture.  I used green olives.

FAVORITE PHOTO FROM THE CAMERA:
The last time I was at the store, I went ahead and bought this beautiful bouquet of flowers just because.  🙂

© Liv’s Photography 2015

There is always a picture to be taken and a moment to be captured

© Liv’s Photography 2015