Thursday (Friday) Thoughts

{one}

Justin's home from work today, and I can hear him making oven pancakes with Lizzy for breakfast. It makes my heart happy hearing him tell her, "This is called cooking flour, now stir it together," and her responding, "I LOVE cooking flour! I'm a really good helper!"

{two}

I bought a hydrangea, and I'm super excited about it. Now, I just have to decide where to plant it! My instincts are to plant it on the front side of the house, but I'm second guessing that a little because don't they look kind of gross in the winter since they drop their leaves? Also, the tag says it's partial shade...but I thought hydrangeas could tolerate shade, but mostly prefer sun?

{three}

I finally got a real workout in yesterday, and man I'm sore today, but in such a good way. I did the tone/sculpt DVD from Turbofire--I don't know why it didn't occur to me to try it before. I still end up sweating my booty off, but without the seasick jumping around of regular Turbofire. Plus, it has a decent abs/core section, very little of which includes laying on your back...which is definitely a plus for me. I pretty much gave up ab exercises entirely during pregnancy last time, and I'd like to do more this time!

{four}

More Pinterest recipes this last week! I love Pinterest for trying out new recipes. There have admittedly been several which I did. not. like. at. all, but overall, it's an amazing resource.

Source: thewaytohisheart.wordpress.com via Meredith on Pinterest
 Mexican Stuffed Shells. These are awesome. The whole family loves them. 

Source: plainchicken.com via Meredith on Pinterest

                                                                                    

 I took this Bacon, Cheddar, and Ranch loaf to at BBQ. It was gone before I really got any, but from the little bite I had, I think it was pretty darn good! 

Source: abigmouthful.com via Meredith on Pinterest

 I took this Garlic Lemon Orzo Pasta Salad with Asparagus and Tomato to the same BBQ, and came home with almost all of it. It was definitely not a fan favorite, but I liked it. The dressing didn't give it a ton of overt-flavor and I left out the parsley, but I sort of liked that you could really TASTE the tomato and asparagus. Sometimes, I'm in the mood for simple food. 

Source: newlywoodwards.com via Meredith on Pinterest

I also made this recipe that Kim @ Newlywoodwards posted last week. I had to make a few substitutions (we only had brown rice, and I used cream of chicken soup instead of cream of mushroom), but I really liked it. I thought for sure that we'd have leftovers, since Justin isn't always a huge mushroom fan, but after a few rounds of "This is GOOD!", it was totally gone. I'm not usually a big fan of cream of _________ soups, but I thought this was really good. Next time I might try it with golden mushroom soup! It's a great comfort-food classic! 

{five}

Yesterday, we were at Target, and Lizzy told me she wanted to go to the bathroom (which just about deserves a standing ovation in and of itself). We walked over, but we were there around lunch time, so naturally the bathrooms were closed for cleaning (I've never understood this, but hey, at least they are clean). Lizzy said, "That's okay mom, I hold it til Taco Bell." I wasn't really PLANNING to go to Taco Bell for lunch, but how could I resist after that?! Then while going to the bathroom at Taco Bell, Lizzy said, "We need to call dad to fix Target." Man, she cracks me up. I didn't really know that she understood what Justin did at work!  

{six}

If this is your sort of thing, what are a few of your favorite worship songs? I feel like with the exception of some of the popular ones currently on the radio, I've been listening to most of the same ones for years.