Gratitude...

It's in these tiny discoveries that the gratitude I have to my Heavenly Father for my children feels completely full. 

Valentines day

VaLenTineS DaY... went a little somthin' like this... 

the kitchen got a heart attack...

daddy made some sweet heart-shaped pancakes...

maddie got a new puppy dog to hug and squeeze (in an attempt to give Brody a break)...

mommy huggin' her Valentines

 lots of pretty flowers

gettin' warmed up for date night...

the "we're out without kids" dance

Mr. "No personality" at the hibachi grill...  

lots of yummy food...and oh yeah baby, you know i made the "clean plate club"

The best Valentines day I can remember...and it ended the way any good V-day should...snuggling in bed with a total hottie!

Sick to my stomach...

Last weekend Brent surprised me (LOVE him) by taking me to Leesburg VA, for the day to some of my favorite antique/junk shops. My favorite shop of all time was having their biggest sale of the year, and the only way I can explain how great this day was...is to say that I was completely sick to my stomach. Sick, because I couldn't buy EVERYTHING in sight and NEVER wanted the day to end (have you ever felt like that or am i just weird...wait...don't answer that)!!! The weather was amazing, there were great cheap finds at every turn,  AND there was FREE hot apple cider (and you know how I feel about that). It was complete "hunting" bliss. 

You aren't "technically allowed to take pics at these places, so please forgive the bad shots, I was taking them under my scarf:)  In addition to some odds and ends, I'm now the proud owner of the sweet little blue table and oil painting at the bottom. 

hanging cozily in the living room

now a bedside table:)

New look

My sweet, sweet (very bribed) hubby, whipped up a new blog banner for me. More befitting I think; plus I'm all about new looks these days. Thanks babe you're the best...glad we could put the good old graphic design degree to use for something.

The salad.

I'm a meat and potatoes girl... it's just the way it is. I've tried over the years to train my taste buds otherwise, but to no avail.  For some reason carbs just speak to me.... like a warm blanket, or conversation with a good friend... they comfort me. In fact, I've been single handedly known to demolish a homemade loaf of bread...in ONE sitting...and feel completely at peace with it. 

So here's the thing,  Brent and I are trying to lose some weight (why not just go and share the all  the embarrassing details of my life) and unfortunately my meat and potatoes just aren't doing the trick. I've fought and fought but realized that if I'm ever going to lose any weight,  Salads are the way to go.  

I should start by saying that I have a very long and fragmented relationship with salads that has always teetered between love (occasionally) and hate (mostly). Something in me just screams, "if I were meant to eat leafy grass, I would have four legs and live in a field somewhere." The love part comes in to play, only when I put so much on top my salad that it ends up having more calories than the Big Mac I should have ordered in the first place. However, in my plight to find a salad that I like... I came across this (pretty huh?) 

So, I've been eating this every day for the past two weeks  and surprisingly I'm still lovin' it. You should totally try it out. Pretty much makes eating healthy seem like a fairly reasonable option (kinda).

Spinach leaves

Quartered strawberries

Chicken 

Slithered almonds

Parmesan cheese 

Fat Free raspberry vinaigrette

let it snow, let is snow, let it snow...

There's just nothing like playing in the first (and only) snow of the year.