What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I haven't done a What I'm Loving Wednesday in about a month!  Crazy how time gets away from you.  Anyway, this week has been ok so far.  I made it back to water aerobics yesterday for the first time since June and went to Sit&Stitch last night.  Of course, today I'm pretty flared, so I'm taking it easy.  Here's hoping I get to go to water aerobics again tomorrow!  On Sunday, Bryan tried to fix the vent issue our dryer was having and ended up breaking the dryer in the process, so he's spent his evenings this week trying to fix both the vent issue and the dryer itself.  I hope he can fix it, but if not, that just means I get a shiny new dryer AND washer--gotta have the matching set, after all ;-).

Anyway, on to what I'm loving this Wednesday!  If you want to see what everyone else is loving or share what you're loving today, link up here!

1)  Murder, She Wrote!  This show has always been one of my favorites, and I rediscovered today that Netflix has just about the whole series on streaming!  So, while I'm taking it easy, I'm watching Jessica Fletcher solve various murders with intelligence, wit, grace and keen observations skills.

2)  Penguin cups!  These cups are holdovers from my hubby's college townhouse!  They make me happy just looking at them.

3)  Fruit smoothies!  For the past couple of days I've been using my Margaritaville mixer to make some yummy fresh fruit and ice smoothies.  I think today I'll run to the store and buy some frozen fruit to use--that way the ice is already in the fruit and it's a bit more cost-effective than buying fresh fruit every day.

4)  My new coffee/tea mug!  I bought it at Park Avenue Yarns last night after wistfully walking by it for about a month lol.  The little sheep makes me happy and it's green on the inside--my favorite color!

5)  My current knitting project--a nice dark green wool scarf for my friend Lindsay!  I'm using the basket-weave 3x3 pattern and it's turning out beautifully!

Menu Planning Monday

This last weekend was a good one, and, of course, I forgot a single picture!

It was my mama's birthday, and she, Dad, Aunt Candy, Gan Gan, Brooke and her friend Halley all headed down this way.  Austin came in from Austin (which always makes me giggle a bit) and the whole lot of us went down to the island for Mexican food and Italian ice and custard at Rita's.  Then we came back to the house and drank wine!  Well, mom and I did lol.  Everyone else watched a movie and Bryan and Austin went and hung out on the back porch.

Brooke and Halley were supposed to stay here with us until Tuesday.  We were going to go see a movie today and hang out, head to the beach tomorrow, and then on Tuesday we were going to go to the zoo on the way to my parents' house.  But just before the parental units left on Saturday, we figured out that Brooke was running a fever.  She was sick so she and Halley ended up going back with everyone and I believe back home yesterday.  I wish they could have stayed, but it's important that she get better soon...after all, her senior year is just around the corner!

So, Brooke, if you're reading this:  FEEL BETTER SOON!!!  :-D

The upside was that Austin did get to stay the weekend!  I love it when he and Diego come to visit!  We spent yesterday watching a documentary about the Dark Ages--or rather, I watched while Bryan and Austin napped.  Then Austin and I watched several episodes of Bleach and Bryan worked on building the first of our cedar end tables for the game room upstairs--it's not completely finished yet, but its already so pretty!!!  We're still deciding on whether we want two or three up there---we'll see how the first two look and decide from there.  I love my hubby so much!  He's so skillful at so many things...I'm so proud of him!

So, that was our weekend!  And here's the menu plan for this week:

Breakfast:  some combination of egg, toast, fruit and/or yogurt with cottage cheese with milk

Lunch:  turkey and cheese sandwich or PBJ for me, leftovers or buying for Bryan

Dinner:

MONDAY:  Garlicky Shrimp Bake--I didn't actually end up making this last week.

TUESDAY: Sit and Stitch!  I'll pick something up on the way.

WEDNESDAY:  Spaghetti and garlic bread!

THURSDAY:  Nice big salad with imitation crab meat and bread!

FRIDAY:  Pita Pizzas

SATURDAY:  Probably out to eat.

SUNDAY:  Perhaps Feta and Pesto Stuffed Chicken

I Won!!!

I am SO EXCITED!!!

My friend Arena has one of the best blogs ever: The Nerd's Wife!  It's all about her marriage to "The Nerd"--who is also a friend of my hubby's from back in college.  They are both absolute sweethearts and such an amazing couple!  Along with all the nerdy things she's learned and experienced in her marriage, she also shares her passions for her family, reading, cooking, and photography.  Her blog was actually the reason I finally did something with this one lol.

Another super-fun aspect of her blog is her AWESOME giveaways!  A couple of weeks ago, she had a giveaway for an 8"x10"x.75" canvas print from Easy Canvas Prints.  The canvas that Arena had made was absolutely lovely, so I entered the giveaway thinking how wonderful it would be to have an 8"x10" canvas for the bedroom.

And I won!!!!!!

Now, the fun part!  We're painting the bedroom in a light blue, and going with a beachy feel and decor.  So, I've been going through Bryan and my pictures from our honeymoon in Aruba and our Costa Rica vacation.  I don't really want to use a picture with people in it, so I'm focusing on the scenic shots that we took.  I've narrowed it down to 3 main choices, with a few "runner up" choices.  When Bryan gets home today, we'll make our final choice!

Here's the main three:

 Aruba 2008

 Aruba 2008

Aruba 2008

And here are the runner-ups:

 Costa Rica 2010

 Costa Rica 2010

 Costa Rica 2010

 Aruba 2008

Aruba 2008

So what do y'all think?:-D

Menu Planning Monday!

Happy Monday everyone...and I hope that's not too much of an oxymoron for everyone today.

Things here are pretty good.  It's been a quiet couple of weeks, which is a nice change from the pleasant business of the rest of the summer.  This next weekend we're keeping Teddy, and my cousin Brooke and a friend of hers are coming to stay for a few days!  I foresee lots of pool time while they're here, at least one trip to the beach, probably a movie trip, potentially shopping/bookstore runs, and lots of fun stuff!

Speaking of fun stuff, here's our menu plan for the week:

Breakfast:  some combination of egg, toast, fruit and/or yogurt with cottage cheese with milk

Lunch:  turkey and cheese sandwich or PBJ for me, leftovers or buying for Bryan

Dinner:

MONDAY:  Garlicky Shrimp Bake--I didn't actually end up making this last week.

TUESDAY: Sit and Stitch!  Bryan's on his own.

WEDNESDAY:  Feta and Pesto Stuffed Chicken

THURSDAY:  Nice big salad with imitation crab meat and bread!

FRIDAY:  Pita Pizzas

SATURDAY:  Brooke and her friend will be in town, so we might order a pizza or two, or go out to eat.

SUNDAY:  Out to eat, or spaghetti with garlic bread.