Thankful Thursday!

I meant to get this out earlier but it has been a busy day.

This week I am thankful for my husband. I know he is falling over in shock in hearing that but I truly am thankful for the life that he has given me. While I am a stay-at-home-Mom, he doesn't expect me to stay home and cook and clean all day. He is supportive of my many endeavors and recognizes that I do aspire to do more than what my role is today. He does believe that staying out of the workforce to raise our children is important but he also respects that I will want more. Mostly I am Thankful for him this week because he realizes that I was never meant to be a tidy person but I need a tidy house so I spend most of my life making messes and then struggling to clean them up or being stressed about it so he let me hire someone to clean my house every other week. They came on Tuesday and I am in pure heaven. The kid areas are already getting messy but my bathroom is still beautiful and I hope it stays that way.

Oh, and by the way, I'm also thankful that he is an amazing father but I tell him that one all the time.

So Jimmy P - Thank You!

Oh, and thanks to Let It Shine Cleaning. They were awesome!

Photo Friday

Spring is trying to make it here in Oregon but the cool weather is making it hard. Still the cherry blossoms are going at the capitol. I had a kid free moment the other day so I popped in for a quick picture:

In my Garden...

Winter is really hanging in here and the RAIN just won't go away. There is some promise for the weekend and today we might actually hit 60 degrees! So this weekend I decided to add a Cloche to get some of my lettuces going. A cloche works a bit like a greenhouse, providing cover for your garden to warm things up. I forgot to take a picture but it pretty much looks like this one from Westside Gardener where I got my instructions:



I should have done it sooner but the idea was just too intimidating until I found those instructions and gave them to The Hubs to go get the material. It cost about $10.

I also decided to bring a little garden color indoors. Make and Takes had great instructions on growing Wheatgrass. I stopped in at Lifesource yesterday and found the Hard Winter Red Wheat. I followed the instructions and now all my wheat seeds are starting to sprout! I will take a photo next week so you can see the beautiful green!

That's what's happening in my garden... how about yours!

Tuesday Tunes

I've been running to the same music for months now I need something to get me motivated. I tried searching my husbands music but you would think I married an old man. He and my parents share the same taste in music. His explanation is that he likes quality music and there wasn't much after the 70's. I can't argue with him because I have no musical inclinations. I just care about how music makes me feel. I mean even Lady Gaga has a place in my musical collection because she makes me feel like dancing. My current favorite channel on Pandora is "80's Throwback, 90's Comeback" which is music that makes me want to sing along. So anyway, I am now looking for music that makes me feel like running. Here is my current playlist:

Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
Seven Nation Army - The White Stripes
Movie Loves a Screen - April Smith and the Great Picture Show
Raise Your Glass - P!nk
L.O.V.E. - Ashlee Simpson
Uprising - Muse
Pressure - Paramore
My Own Worst Enemy - Stereophonics
Next Best Thing - Nikki & Rich
Souljacker, Pt. 1 - Eels
Can We Go Wrong - Hesta Prynn
Devil's Dance Floor - Flogging Molly
Under My Skin - Gin Wigmore
I'm Shipping Up to Boston - Dropkick Murphys
Anyway - Dynamite Hack
Someday - Pete Schmidt
Hell's Ditch - The Pogues
Ride to California - Paper Tongues
I'm Amazed - My Morning Jacket
Paper Planes - M.I.A.
Recall - Hesta Prynn
Spirit In the Sky - Doctor & The Medics
I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas
Fed Up - AM Taxi
A Thousand Trees - Stereophonics
Ooh La La - Goldfrapp
Chasing Cars - Snow Patrol
Misery Business - Paramore
Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet
You Winding Me Up - Hesta Prynn
Turpentine - Brandi Carlile
Dreamer - Ozzy Osbourne

It is really long and on most runs I only get through the first few songs. What songs get you motivated to move?

Menu Plan Monday!

My Menu plan started out so beautiful and then I went to Costco... $200 later and I still don't have all the ingredients for the dinners I planned. Grrr! Of course I did get a couple cute outfits for the kids and a birthday present but I still needed to do a quick menu revisit. So here is the menu:

Monday - Penne Pasta and Prawns (from Costco - it looked too yummy!) with sauteed spinach.
Tuesday - Pinoche Pasta from Twelve Months of Monastery Salads
Wednesday - Halibut, Cous Cous, Spinach Salad
Thursday - Lentil Curry (has been on the menu for 3 weeks and still not made!)
Friday - Homemade Pizza
Saturday - Pasta, Pasta!
Sunday - Whatever I want because I'll be finishing my half-marathon!