Friday Thoughts (Plus, HUGE Cookbook Update!)

Hi, associates! It’s April! I’m very pleased with myself for making it by way of winter, and I’m absorbing each second of this unbelievable spring climate.

I’m glad you’re right here! Heck, I’m glad I’m right here. 😂 (Winter was ROUGH.)

{If you’re new to Friday Thoughts posts and questioning what the heck is happening, sometimes I pop in with an actual life replace on all of the issues – in the present day is that day!}

Family/Kid Update: Speed Style

• We presently have one high faculty tennis participant and one center faculty tennis participant – it’s so enjoyable watching them each work onerous at this newer sport for them! And it’s rather a lot much less disturbing than watching wrestling matches. 😬
• Speaking of wrestling, my 16-year previous fractured his jaw on the high faculty district wrestling event (a few of you most likely noticed my updates on Instagram about this). It was a season-ending harm, and he had emergency surgical procedure to repair the traumatic harm. He simply received cleared to renew regular actions and eat all.the.issues after six LONG weeks eating a gentle/liquid weight loss plan. He was such a trooper (and had so many teammates, coaches, associates, and relations help and love him by way of the restoration). #milkshakesforever

• Brian purchased a small enterprise and is lastly fulfilling a lifelong dream of being his personal boss. He is working onerous to build and grow this print shop (which has been in enterprise for a number of many years!) – it has given me a brand new appreciation for supporting native companies!
• My second oldest (who doesn’t like me sharing pictures of him, however he did give me permission to share this bit of information) lately acquired an LDS church mission call to serve for 2 years within the Philippines (Manila mission). He leaves July 1. 🥺 We’ve been immersed in researching correct footwear, making use of for visas, and naturally…making an attempt our hand at some Filipino recipes. Making lumpia and hen adobo this coming Sunday! Any expertise within the Philippines?? We’d love to listen to it.

Kitchen transform

Last Friday Thoughts submit I talked in regards to the kitchen transform we had been presently present process. It’s completed! And ooof, I hope I by no means must dwell by way of that once more. 🤪 We survived on Costco meals, a sizzling plate for warming issues up, and plenty of chilly cereal.

Here’s the earlier than:

Here’s the after:

We knocked out the again wall of the kitchen and used the house workplace area to broaden the kitchen. After 22 years of ready and wishing, I lastly have double wall ovens, and I like them simply as a lot as I hoped I might.

If you need to see extra in-depth movies of the kitchen, faucet by way of this Instagram highlight – towards the tip of the spotlight, I share a kitchen replace.

We are presently building on a small addition to reclaim the misplaced workplace area, and it ought to be executed subsequent week! The most enjoyable a part of the brand new addition is that this wallpaper that’s going up within the laundry room. 😉🐓

(Pray for me, as I haven’t touched wallpaper for the reason that mid-80’s after I needed to painstakingly peel off some very cussed and really paisley-patterned wallpaper from a room in our home, and I nonetheless haven’t gotten over that traumatic – and countless – expertise.)

Cookbook Update

BIG NEWS!! The cookbooks HAVE ARRIVED and can ship out very quickly!

If you pre-ordered a guide, you’ll obtain a affirmation (through e mail or textual content, relying on the way you signed as much as obtain updates) when your order ships.

I can’t wait so that you can lastly get this cookbook in your fingers and in your kitchen!

The guide is over 300 pages with a photograph for EVERY single one of many 140+ recipes. The high quality is excellent and has exceeded all the pieces I hoped for! I hope you find it irresistible. 💗

If you haven’t ordered but, there’s nonetheless time to get in on this primary print run. Cookbooks will be ordered here.

Weather blanket

After a good friend despatched me this reel, I made a decision a climate blanket wanted to be in my 2024 plans.

What is a climate blanket, you ask? (It’s a terrific query! I had no thought till a number of months in the past!) It’s a easy single-crochet blanket the place every row represents the high temperature every day of the yr.

I instantly ordered yarn from my native JoAnn’s retailer, picked it up the subsequent day, and started crocheting! So far, it has been tremendous enjoyable and never overwhelming (aside from one little add-on challenge I made a decision to do with it that I’ll report on later…simply in case I surrender 😂).

One row takes me about 11 1/2 minutes to crochet. I’m hoping to get just a little sooner (there are 230 single crochets in every row). I’m not engaged on it day by day, however a few occasions per week, I’ll sit down and catch up.

It’s really helped me decelerate within the evenings just a little bit whereas I sit and dutifully test my climate app, make notations on my spreadsheet 🤓, and chat with my youngsters whereas I crochet. Everyone in my household is surprisingly invested within the climate blanket. 🤣

Things I’m Loving

• Mantis: this was the winning game at Christmas. So, so enjoyable (and extremely straightforward to be taught). Also, the included booklet on Mantis shrimp is 🤯
• Wear When Bracelets: loving these bracelets – and so are my youngsters! I purchased the bracelets for them for Easter, and the scripture messages and reminders are so superb and uplifting (the place whenever you want braveness, the place when you’ll want to decide, the place whenever you want somebody). 💗
• Sherpa-Lined Hoodies: love, love, love these hoodies. They match true to dimension (unisex sizing) or possibly barely small, so dimension up if you’re in between sizes. I do know hoodie season is coming to a detailed, however these are definitely worth the purchase any time of the yr!
• Cargo Pants: my teenage boys have several pairs of these (black, grey and brown), and put on them continually. They have held up tremendous nicely, wash and dry completely, and have gotten the boys to interrupt out of their Nike sweat pants regime (no judgment there, they’ve a mother who wears joggers just about day by day of her life 🤣). They are informal sufficient that they don’t really feel dressed up, however stylish sufficient to put on to household footage or the like.
• Nutri-Blender: my boys make protein smoothies each day after they come house from sports activities practices or fitness center workouts. Or only for an after dinner snack BECAUSE THEY CONSUME CALORIES CONSTANTLY. My 15-year previous was gifted this blender for Christmas, and it rapidly turned a sizzling commodity and is now utilized by everybody. I’m shocked at how nicely it really works, and I like that it could possibly make single servings, as a result of simply between you and me, nobody round right here was doing an excellent job at washing out the full-size blender. 👀
• Skin Serum: have you ever heard of this serum? It is superb! Like, wow-level superb. And very cheap for one thing that has over 75,000 five-star evaluations. I put it on at night time beneath my common moisturizer. My pores and skin feels extremely gentle and rather more hydrated than earlier than. Highly suggest!
• Footrest pillow: my 16-year previous gave me this footrest pillow for my birthday a number of months in the past, and actually, it was probably the most intelligent, most helpful present ever. I’m all the time asking the children to run and discover me a small stool from some nook of the home after I sit on the couches so I can elevate my ft just a bit. I suppose you could possibly say this present was partly for me and partly for him. 😂 I exploit it after I work at my desk, additionally. LOVE IT.

Protein ⬆️

I’m NOT the gal to provide anybody recommendation about monitoring food, counting energy or determining macros. Over the final eight years, I’ve tried actually onerous to deal with intuitive eating (I read the book, and it modified my considering on so many facets of eating and health) as a result of I discovered that after I tried to trace my energy or macros, it turned an obsessive psychological recreation that was not good for my psychological health or how I felt about my body.

As I repeat to my youngsters on the each day: your body is an instrument, not an decoration (credit score to Beauty Redefined for that mantra).

ANYWAY, this isn’t recommendation or a lecture on any of that, as a result of each person has their system and method of doing issues.

But, I simply wished to say that earlier this yr, I made a decision to be extra intentional about ensuring I used to be getting sufficient protein so I might construct lean muscle as I’ve been lifting weights extra the final yr or so (with the Sadie Active app).

So I downloaded the ProteinPal app (it solely tracks protein), and I discovered that though I thought I used to be getting sufficient protein, I used to be falling far wanting my objective (objective being: 110-115 grams per day). As I’ve made a extra centered effort to eat lean protein in my meals, I’ve observed modifications in my urge for food (I’m infrequently hungry between meals), in my workouts (I’ve extra power), and the way I really feel general (💪🏼).

This has been a terrific change for me! (P.S. I’m nonetheless eating cookies and bread and greens and fruit and all the opposite issues, too. 😉)

Now it’s your flip! I’d love to listen to all of YOUR ideas within the feedback under. Anything associated to the above submit or simply typically what’s taking place in your world!

I like connecting with every of you, and I respect each time you’re taking a minute to share a chunk of your life with me. 💗