instalife

Weak. Maybe one day I'll finish a whole zza.

the nature of the beast

Remember all the back to last summer when I said I found a great book but it was the final book in the series? Well I have finally made it to the eleventh book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series (my fifth book for the year)! And it's no longer the final one, either. There is now a twelfth book. But I am not ordering it until it's out in paperback because all my other books from the series are all the same size and they look pretty amazing on my shelf. Yeah, make fun of me.

So far I have loved all the books with my least favorite being The Beautiful Mystery which ended up not taking place in Three Pines or involving any of the village characters. Luckily this story is still perfectly tucked in the Eastern Townships and is already making out to be a good read.

"Penny sustains her high-wire act, creating characters of remarkable depth in an exhilarating whodunit." - PEOPLE.

Leia

sanibel + captiva: a photo series

On my first day of vaca with Adam and his sister Stephanie we packed up our stuff, threw on our swimmers and headed out to Sanibel for an island adventuring day. And let me just say I was so over the moon in love with the swimsuits I found.

We walked the shoreline for quite a while and saw many splendors of nature ranging from a dolphin swimming just off shore to a seagull tearing apart a dead fish. Beautiful.

^^ look how close the dolphin was!

 
^^ trying to find a fuck to give in my amazing suit. It's now out of stock and looks amazing on the model, but I don't mind a bit. Winter Body Powers Activate!

After we were done taking awkward vacation pics we headed over to Captiva for some drinky drinks and foody food. We stopped off at Cantina Captiva; a tradition that Adam and his family have when they are visiting. It was so quirky and unique. It's customary to sign a dollar and stick it wherever there's room.

 No, I didn't leave a dollar because I'm lame.

Then we headed out for some shopping and to let our slightly sunburnt skin rest a bit. It was definitely a successful first day out.



Put the lime in the coconut.
Leia

instalife

Because I'm too upset to elaborate for further. And can we just appreciate this blast from the past contact photo 😂 . . . #thisisus #nbc #whatthefuck #wtf #why #forwhat #howdareyou #thebigthree #theypulledashonda #thisisnthtgawm #onewholeyear #lifecannotgoon #jackillneverletgo #imflying

kindergarten fun facts: weeks 21-25

When I look back and realize that I haven't documented again for FIVE weeks on Kennedy's weekly learnings it feels insane. It seems like yesterday that I was catching up on the previous three weeks that I missed! But I feel better knowing that just because I didn't post about it doesn't mean we didn't keep track of what her amazing teacher taught each day or week.

Week 21

 

Me: "So you're telling me you didn't learn anything? Not even a new word in Spanish?"
Kennedy: "Well I did learn ONEEEE new word. And.. it's a silly one."
Me: "Ooooh, what is it?"
K: "Calzones." *giggling*
Me; "And what's that mean?"
K: "Underwear!"

Week 22

Got married at school and played "marry and kiss". Yeah, I still haven't really gotten to the bottom of this one. Her pal, Noah (also one of our neighbors) from school asked Ken to marry him and even completed the transaction with a nice ring. When she was telling the story to granny she said, "yepp, and then at the end we kissed!" Something she happened to leave out when she told me and I still haven't quite figured out the truth.

Week 23

Went on her second field trip to the Leslie Science center where she got to indulge in all things nature. Everything from trdle's to muddy trails.

Week 24

"I already told you, I didn't learn anything."


Week 25

"Did you know that in Spanish girls are a, and boys are o? And that Papa is a rule breaker?"

This week school was cut short by two days due to power outages in the area. Almost 1,000,000 people (between our two major electrical providers) were left without power. We were some of the lucky ones; while we only lost power in blips during the brunt of the 'storm' our downtown area was without power until last evening.



Hello, Friday.
Leia

some happenings

It's currently 2am and I woke up out of sleep feeling queasy and if you know me it is one of the most unpleasant things someone can experience  and makes me highly anxious wondering if it's going to lead to pukey things which then makes me list all the food I ate today and think, "could I have gotten food poisoning!?" So why not take a trip to the interweb to try to get your mind of things and hopefully get back to bed without an incidents; sorry to Brendon whom I've woken twice with my fidgeting.

I know you all are just jumping at the bit to get inside my brain so I will happily oblige:

• Brendon turned 28 a few days ago! Happy Birthday!
• We are finally laying flooring in the kitchen/living room. Yes, the flooring that caused Piper to lose a tooth (still makes me shudder). 
• The Blogger app is complete shite. 
• Two, tonight will be three, nights ago Piper slept all night! The first since her tooth injury and paci being taken away!
• No, the streak did not last. 
• Maybe tonight will be another for the books! So far so good!
• Buttttt I likely just jynxed myself. 
• My childhood best friend and I have been hanging out quite a bit and it's amazing. 
• I still need to blog my Florida trip with Adam and his sister. 
• I would like to go on another vacation. 
• Back to the floor. We had linoleum and it had a thin underlayment. When Brendon took it all up every single staple stayed behind waiting for me to hammer them down. 
• All 40,000 of them. 
• FORTY THOUSAND. 
• Kennedy is such a good kid. She asked if she could help me hammer staples but after about 10 she asks, "can you just do the hammering so I can dance?" Girl, YOU asked ME if you could help! Be my guest; dance!
• I have four weeks of kindergarten fun facts to post about. 
• I'm a bad blogger. 
• I start a "new job" on March 20!
• Same job but I get my own desk and get out of the ER to do it!
• I want to go on more vacations. 
• Anyone taken a Groupon getaway? I want to go SO BAD but they are such good deals that I imagine they must be super sketch. 
• I think I might have carpel tunnel (sp?). 
• Think my sicky paranoia might be over. 
• Gonna try to get some sleep. 
• Night, good morning, good afternoon. 

Archer is dreaming. 

Leia

instalife

Love these sisters.

mid-week meal share: spicy chicken noodle soup

Well, it's official. February passed without a single recipe being shared. Contingent blogger status or what? And really, I don't think this is the best comeback recipe but it's decent; cheap and easy.

Weather in Michigan has been completely unpredictable. A week or so ago we had weather nearing the 70's (while I was in Florida of course) and since then we've had everything from snow, rain, and tornado like winds - one time that brought hail. Last night it was horrendous sounding but I was so tired and angry that I was woken up by a storm, which was followed with not getting back to sleep from Piper, that I didn't get up to check to see if what I was hearing was hail. So if you're experiencing weather patterns like us maybe you want something comforting for the remaining Winter days but something spicy to get you amped up for Summer. Well, my friends; I think I have the answer.

Easy to concoct: yes'm.

Cost effective: yes'm.

Check your pantry or run to the store for these items:

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp sriracha

2½ tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp rice vinegar *optional
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 can diced potatoes
1 can sliced carrots
1 box pasta

I got the base of the broth from this recipe and if I felt like shopping I likely would have made the entire ramen dish but I used what I had on hand, but otherwise still seemed pretty simple. Boasts 20 minutes for total time.

1. The very first thing I did was boil water for my noodles. I used ditalini but the food world is yours to conquer so I implore you to just pick your fav.

2. In a skillet combine your sesame oil, sriracha, garlic, soy sauce and rice vinegar if you are using it. It's such a small amount that if you don't have any and don't want to buy it, I don't think that the flavor will be greatly impacted.

3. Once you've combined those and heated them through add in your broth, water, and veggies and bring to a simmer.

Haha, and now that I'm going back over the instructions I realized that I added my soy sauce and vinegar too soon. It's a wonder I'm still alive.

4. Add in your noodles (or keep them separate so they don't get too water logged).

5. Enjoy!

The broth says ramen, the veggies and noodles say chicken noodle soup and it is pretty tasty. Kennedy was at school when I made it and I made Piper some butter noodles instead of giving her broth. It definitely had a kick to it. TRY IT.



And how time for Shameless.
Leia