Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Invading the Alabama Gulf Coast

For the week of July 4th, Hubs and I were invited down to the Alabama gulf coast with our best friends.  Ash's dad lives near Orange Beach, Alabama, so we crashed his pad for some beach fun. Jim, Ash, and their Princess headed down on Saturday and Bob and I met up with them on Tuesday evening. We had a great time despite a not so great weather forcast.

Here's a recap...

1. Shrimp Basket - AMAZING! We arrived on All You Can Eat popcorn shrimp day!

2. We visited the Dollar General in Orange Beach every single day. We bought everything from poptarts to contact solution and ice to a nerf football.

3. Fresh shrimp from Billy's Seafood in Bon Secour. Their motto is "if it swims, we got it." They have fresh seafood including 5 sizes of shrimp for unbeatable prices! We had ours steamed in cajun seasoning and devoured it later with potatoes, corn, and hush puppies. I took 5 more pounds home to my dad!

4. Our car broke down behind Souvenir City on the evening of the 4th. HUGE thanks to Hub City Towing and Wayne, the driver, for helping us out! We got it fixed enough to get us home. Although it was a huge ordeal at first, the entire adventure only cost us a $20 part once we got home! Oh and thank God for roadside assistance!

4b. While my car is broken down in a parking lot 250 miles from home, do not approach me if you are drunk. The anger that spews forth cannot be matched. Just keep walking buddy.

4c. EK may or may not have peed in the bushes while we hung out in the parking lot.

4d. Seeing what great friends you have while you are crying in the parking lot is a great feeling.

5. We were very let down by the fireworks....or lack of. It was crazy windy so they were afraid of blow back into the crowd and the condos so fireworks stopped after about 60 seconds.

6. Bob finally got to try Lambert's Cafe. He was in food heaven. We all left full and happy! Even the Princess enjoyed some "mashed taters."

7. Staying up ridiculously late and eating ice cream ridiculously late is not usually in a runner's agenda but it was this week and we all four enjoyed it immensly!

8. We didn't run at all! I know really - shame on us. But it was a nice break.

9. Jim and Ash probably brought back 20lbs of sand in their car. It was our beach vehicle.

10. After having ice cream everyday and eating not great bad ANYTHING we wanted, I didn't gain a single pound!

Hubs and I waiting to eat at The Original Oyster House

Jim, Ash, their girl....and some Hubs in the background

Uncle Bob and the Princess

Breaking down on the 4th

Monday, July 29, 2013

Menu Plan Monday

Another new week!  This week's goals are to keep a diary of my food and exercise consistently.  I love to run but I have been on a break for a few weeks and I really need to get back on it!  I can only call myself a runner if I am actually running! 

Here is our menu...

Sunday - Mesquite Pork Tenderloin, green beans, roasted potatoes, and sauteed squash

Monday - Taco Salads

Tuesday - Grilled Chicken, whole baby potatoes, cabbage, and black eyed peas

Wednesday - Healthy Brown Rice Chicken Broccoli Bake (that's a mouthful!) with roasted zucchini

Thursday - BBQ Pork Chops, homemade macaroni and cheese, roasted veggies

Friday - Grocery night!  On Our Own!

For hundreds of menu plans, visit Orgjunkie.com's Menu Plan Monday.

Monday, July 22, 2013

Bad Blogger

I have been a very bad blogger recently.  I have so much to say yet I don't seem to ever get it out.  But here's to trying harder! 

And here's a peek into what has been going on the past few months (bad iphone pictures and all).


I graduated college in May. It was a big, big day. I had lots of family, friends, and co-workers there to root me on. It was a good day.

Here we go!

Me and a sweet co-worker - my best pictures of the day.
The weekend after graduation was another big day.  I completed my first 5k race!  I wasn't last!  I was super proud!
 
After the race, we had a cookout with friends complete with a fire pit for roasting marshmallows.  I seriously love these people.
 

Let's see...what else...

Chris Young and Brad Paisley in Concert as part of my graduation gift from Bob.  Super fun night!


We competed in another 5K in late June.  You can read my hilarious yet sad race report on our running blog.



 
 
For the week of July 4th, our running buddies and best friends invited us to tag along on their beach vacation.  We happily invaded. 

 


Our Spot


And finally, meet our new addition, Jax....
Jax and his sister, Lizzy, ended up at my moother-in-law's house.  We rescued sweet little Jax partially because he reminds the Hubs of his childhood cat, Jinx.  When introducing the new kitten, we knew Shelby wouldn't hurt him but we weren't sure how they would jive.  After an initial fear phase (note that Shelby was the scaredy cat), they love each other.  And I mean love.  They are happier to see each other than either of their humans.  It's sweet and it made us feel that Jax was meant to be our kitty.



'Til Next Time...

Monday, July 15, 2013

Menu Plan Monday

I survived shopping for two weeks at a time!  It took a lot of planning and going slower than usual but I did it!  I did the majority of my shopping at ALDI followed up by a stop at a local grocery store and a visit to a dollar store for a few items for our new kitten.  Here is our plan for this week. 

Saturday - Chicken Fingers and French Fries

Sunday - Pork Chops, Mashed Potatoes, Mac n Cheese, and Green Beans

Monday - Spaghetti and French Bread

Tuesday - Cajun Chicken Pasta

Wednesday - Hot Dogs and French Fries

Thursday - Parmesan Chicken Pizza and Salad

Friday - Sausage and Potato Skillet, Blackeyed Peas, and Cornbread

Monday, July 8, 2013

Menu Plan Monday

We are fresh off a beach vacation and I'm acting like a 3 year old!  Whiney!  But, it is a new week and new dinners!  I'm also working on a two-week grocery trip this coming week.  Going to give that a try and see how it goes!  As I'm currently boycotting Walmart becuase of a pretty horrible experience with their completely riduclous customer service, I'm finding new stores and new options to get what we need.  That shall be an adventure too!

Here is our week!

Saturday - Buffalo Chicken Strip Salad

Sunday - Vegetable Soup and Grilled Cheese (I know..it's July but it was like 75 yesterday!)

Monday - Cheeseburger Casserole and Baked Potatoes

Tuesday - Chicken and Dumplins and Green Beans

Wednesday - Onion Baked Chicken, Mac n Cheese, and "Brown" Rice (rice baked with beef broth)

Thursday - Pancakes

Friday - Grocery night!  Making something easy!

For hundreds of menu ideas, visit Orgjunkie.com's Menu Plan Monday.