If only...

This morning I actually woke up at 6:20 and went for a run.  I can't tell you how amazing I felt when I was done, so I'm not sure why I can't MAKE myself get out of bed early every morning.  I soooo wish I was a morning person. My morning has just been delightful.  If only I could have this every morning.

Kale Chips

These chips are delicious.  We received Kale in our CSA but Jarrod does not like it raw so my friends Megan and Cheri told me about these yummy little treats.  They are so crispy and a great replacement for potato chips. 

How to:

Lightly brush kale with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and bake for 8-10 minutes.

Happy Birthday Baby Ava

Today is my niece's birthday! Baby Ava is 1 which is hard to believe. I got the chance to watch her yesterday and I just loved it! I took her outside for about 3 mins to snap a few shots. She had a massively dirty diaper so I had to be quick. I can't wait for her birthday party on Saturday! Happy Birthday sweet girl - Aunt Bebe loves you!

Joplin

Jarrod and I have spent many weekend in Joplin due to the fact that his Aunt and Uncle live in a big beautiful house there with a pool.  Luckily they are just fine and so is their house.  Sunday night was crazy in Joplin and it just breaks my heart.  I am so very thankful that our family is safe but pray for all the other families that are suffering.  There are so many ways to help, please find someway that your efforts could be in use.
Convoy of Hope or the Red Cross are two great ways.  Also, if you live in Springfield, there are many many places around town that are good drop off spots for clothing, toiletries, and food.  Also, please please pray.  This will be a long process of healing and clean-up.

Photo found here

Sorry Babe, I had to do it.

Jarrod makes fun of my driving all the time.  So does my friend Meg.  Let me just say, I'm not the one that smashed my mirror.

We got back into town on Sunday morning and went straight to bed. When Zeda woke up, my parents brought her to us. We played and unpacked all morning so I thought we should go to lunch at Panera and then to the library to check Zeda out some books.

Jarrod was the last to park my car in the garage. He parks as close to the wall as possible to have enough space in the middle to walk and carry stuff. I couldn't get in the passengers door so he needed to pull out. As I was waiting in the drive, I heard the crunch. I assumed he would stop. Nope, he kept coming and was laughing about it. I put my arms up in the "WHAT!" position and he was like, "It was supposed to pop backwards" Once he realized he broke the mirror he wasn't laughing so hard. While we were in the car for 17 hours the day before we talk about being on a spending freeze after vacation. Then he goes and breaks something. Ha. Good Job Babe. I just had to tell everyone :)

Isn't He Sweet??

Jarrod carried these flowers in for me...sweet right?  They came from our yard. Ha.  He and Zeda picked them for me while I was in the house making dinner.  What a sweet little surprise.  I didn't even know we had a bush growing flowers.  I should walk around our house more often.

Yummy Pizza

After I brought my CSA home I made this delicious thing with some of the veggies I got and using a crust recipe from the cookbook my mom got me. It was great. Zeda and Jarrod loved it.

I realized three pictures is a little much, but it really was that good.

CSA is Here!

Today was the first pick up of my CSA share.  We have LOTS of greens at my house, and I love it!

Here is what I picked up:

Green Onions

Kale

Swiss Chard

Cut Salad Greens 

Asparagus

Head Lettuce

Bean sprouts

Cilantro

Spinach

Cucumber

Strawberries  

 For Christmas, my mom got me this cookbook and I am so very excited to try out these recipes with my CSA produce.  Also, somehow my sister received 30 DOZEN eggs from the Amish so I have about 25 eggs at my house.  Lots of omelettes with veggies for us.

Asthma

Well, we're back and this is what we come home to...

Thursday-Monday we were able to talk to Zeda.  On Friday, she developed a cough and it progressively got worse.  On Sunday night, Sherri said she was going to take Z to the doctor in the morning just to make sure she was okay.  Since we were leaving the next day and wouldn't be able to talk to them until Saturday, I was happy about that decision.  Monday was a bit stressful in general, dealing with work, making sure we had everything packed right, getting on the ship, and then waiting to hear from Sherri.  Asthma isn't what I wanted to hear.  However, Jarrod assured me there is much worse things for the girl to have and we've been pretty luck up to this point.  That's only the second time we've made a doctors appointment for her outside of her normal check ups.  So...it could be worse but it did come at a pretty bad time.  Sherri called, explained everything to us, our ships left and we lost cell coverage.  I was like, "Okay, hope everything goes well for the next five days"  Really?  I wont know how my baby is doing until Saturday and it's Monday.  Again, Jarrod being the calm one, assured me again, she's in good hands and he wanted us to still have a good time.  So we did.  On Saturday, when I was able to talk to Z baby she was happy, taking like crazy and so excited for me to see her dinosaur mask.  Luckily, they've only had to do the treatments a couple of times and since we've been home, we haven't had to do it at all.  Sherri said after the first time, Zeda wanted to do it all by herself.  The pictures above are her showing me how to do it.  She said, "Zeza do it."  If you haven't been informed, this girl is extremely independent.  My friend, Emily, wrote about her independence here. Ha.  Okay, off to do more laundry and work on a shower I'm doing this weekend.  I'll talk more about the trip later.

And were out!

On Thursday, Jarrod and I started our much anticipated anniversary trip.  So far, it's been amazing.  We were without Internet in the Mountains at the Smokies and starting tomorrow we will be without Internet again as we leave the country and head for the Bahamas.

Tomorrow, I will be enjoying my husband along with thinking about my bestie/partner as she takes on our 417 gig alone.  Love you Meg, Good luck!

I will write all about our trip when I get home.  There are lots of stories to tell, including why Jarrod and I are walking around like we are 80.

A Fiesta

Tonight, I had a large dinner at church.  I've been planning it for awhile but it was put on the back burner a bit because of Social Graces.  I, of course, had Belinda Wingo do the desserts.  I told her it was a Mexican Fiesta, I needed to serve 200 and I trusted her to come up with something fabulous.  And fabulous it was.  Here is one picture (that's all the energy I have for) followed by a list of all the treats.

Mexican Wedding Cookies

Tres Leches Cakes

Chocolate Flan Cake

Chocolate Kahlua Cake

Mexican Nachos

Mexican Flag Cake

Mexican Carmel Pudding

Chocolate Chipotle Truffle

I wish I hadn't been running around...I would have sat down and enjoyed some of this goodness.

A bit of surprise!

This morning Meg and I were getting all these emails about comments and views on our Social Graces site.  We thought they were all spam, until we realized we were featured on Freshly Pressed.  Below is the picture Meg posted on her personal blog this morning.

It's been fun looking at our views.  We hit our record, we've had more views today then we did on day 1.  AND we actually have multiple COMMENTS!  Yay!  Such a blessing and "pick me up" on a very stressful week for both of us.

Say Goodbye to the Diapers!

So, I guess I can officially say that Z baby is potty trained.  She has been in panties full-time for a couple of weeks now, except for when she sleeps.  I can't believe I managed to get her potty trained with everything going on.  My goal was to start going panties full-time when we got back from vacation but she just wasn't having a diaper anymore so I went for it.  We've been in panties at home for awhile now.  I was just scared to go out into the world with them but I knew it had to happen sometime.  She's done great and now I'm learning where every potty is in Springfield.  Yay.  Good job Z baby, thanks for making it so easy on mama.  Now, please stay potty trained when I leave for 10 days. :) Love you.   

A Step in History

I decided I should start posting historical moments in our world rather then JUST moments in the Murdaugh's world.  The whole point of my blog is for me to look back and remember life as it was "then".  There are moments in society that shape us and our culture and I want to document them on my blog.

I'm going to start with Osama Bin Laden's death.  In NO way will I make political opinions.  I told myself from the beginning I would never do that.  What I will say is that I can't bring myself to "rejoice" over this death, but I am proud of my President and everyone who serves our country. 

All of these crazy comments that are circulating out there, people throwing their opinions to the wind about Bin Laden, our President or whatever, saddens me.  I'm very thankful to live in a country with freedom of speech but sometimes people use that privilege to a whole new level.

Troops, I pray for you daily, thank you for your dedication and hard work.  I pray, when the time comes, you make it home safely.

Obama telling the American people that Bin Laden is dead. 5.1.11.
Image found here.