Pinterest Tuesday is back!!

I went back to work last week, after having a lovely 2 weeks off, and my blogging has certainly been lagging! That plus the arrival of my mom from Florida has kept me occupied but here I am this week ready to get down to business...I pinned this recipe myself from the Food Network and we made it this past Sunday with our neighbors; it was SO YUMMY!!! Jenn's rating: two thumb's up!

Best part of this pasta recipe? Minimal ingredients that we basically have in the house most of the time and it was quick!! Enjoy!



Oh Hey :-)

I'm still here guys! Back to work this week after a 2 week vacation, plus my mom is arriving from Florida today! I'll be back to my reg scheduled blogging soon, but just wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten you :-) Have a great week!

Time-Out Thursday, ahem Friday

Well, I got lazy yesterday and didn't blog but with good reason. I was an errand running nut, trying to get a bunch of stuff done before the dreaded return to work on Monday. This week has been great for mommy time and this weekend will be pretty darn good too. I took two pretty challenging vinyasa yoga classes this week with a fabulous teacher; those kind of classes really help clear my head and re-center me. Re-centered Jenn=happy, patient mama. So, Ive been a good girl in the "making time for me" dept.

This weekend has been something I've planned for the hubbs since January and he's really looking forward to it. We love our beer in this household, so much so that my husband began brewing his own from scratch a few years ago. There's one particular brewery/brewer that has always caught his attention so for his 30th birthday I planned a road trip down to Delaware to visit it. We're heading down to Dogfish Head Brewery with another couple for the day then slowly working our way back home to return on Sunday. Little adult weekend away should be good for an uber busy working married couple!!

Bathroom BEFORE & AFTER PICS!

Old: 50's style subway tile on the walls (I'm considered lucky, I've learned, on my street. Mine was cream with cranberry accents but I've heard many other have pink & black!) and mosaic tile on the floor. Hard to see everything since its a small bathroom, but above the wall tile, it was painted cranberry. No counter space on the vanity. Kinda dark and blah...

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AFTER:

 Bright & welcoming! Large 12x12, lighter floor tile, beaded board 1/2 way up the wall and Benjamin Moore's Beach Glass paint on the wall. Smaller, matching tile on the wall above the tub-you can kinda see it above the curtain. To top it off, the new shower head was pretty awesome too. Wish the pics did it justice, but I LOVE it :-) The guys did an amazing job.

I haven't finished all the last touches, like the wall behind the toilet but it's a good pic of the colors. Fabulous, updated potty with a slow close lid (arguably one of my fav features) and new light/fan that throws of heat if we'd like. Super fantastic for winter. Evelyn was the lucky one to be the first to test this guy out this morning :-)

Tuesday Pinterest Review!!

Here I go again, doing the dirty work for you all :-) So I tested this pulled pork recipe from Tyler Florence

I try to pull at least one new recipe a week to try to break up monotony and one of the key factors in selecting them is amount of things I need to buy to make it. If I have to go out and spend and extra 30 bucks just to make one recipe on top of what I normally have to buy then it's not worth it. We had all the spices so we really only had to buy the pork, rolls & coleslaw--good choice in my book. Pretty simple to make; dry rub goes on the pork butt and can sit in the fridge overnight and sauce was pretty basic too. Here's the final judgement: Would we make it again? Yes, it gets our stamp of approval :-)

Have a great week!

Monday Update: The Painting Commences!

Phew, I'm not gonna lie I can't wait to have my own bathroom back :-) Anyone who's been through a major renovation like a bathroom or kitchen knows what I am talking about! Thankfully the guys working on it have been great and things look fantastic so far. Seems as though all the big stuff is done; today is priming & painting and hopefully the wainscotting aka beaded board. Once this is done hopefully the toilet can go in, giving us two potties again haha! Can't wait to show before and after pics...soon enough!!

So excited about this afternoon: I snagged an awesome deal on Travelzoo a few months back for MIL & I at the casino day spa. I get to look forward to a 50 min massage, body polish & hair/scalp treatment. I'm bursting with excitement, as you might be able to tell!

Have a great week!

Time Out Thursday!

Theme of this week's "Time Out" is not exercise based!! M & I had a little date night last night in town, enjoying some yummy mexican food  & margaritas. This kind of time is so so so necessary and we've been  incredibly neglectful of our relationship for most of this winter sports season. It should never be an excuse, but the late hours of my job and huge commitment of M being a head coach really weighs heavily on us. Everytime winter rolls around, we switch from being husband & wife to roommates-seriously. We're so busy trying to be here, there, meetings, who's picking up Evelyn, who's feeding Evelyn etc etc that I know that personally I lose sight of the big picture. M loves coaching and I enjoy my job, so I guess we can't really change that but what we do need to do is make sure we find time for nights like last night: Two adults enjoying some frosty beverages and adult conversation. It was good to get out of the house and just "do us".  I wanted to take a pic of our fabulous margs to post here but I didn't wanna be the weird girl sitting at the bar taking odd pics of her drink :-) but it certainly was yummy.

What do you do to make sure your relationships/marriage stay solid??

Going into Day Three!

Yesterday was pretty exciting--our tub/shower was installed! They were able to rip out our old floor, insulate around the walls of the tub and do some electrical & plumbing work. It's so cool going from complete gut yesterday to signs of life by the end of the day :-) Today will bring sheet rock and taping-- yay for walls! I know pretty much zilch about construction and all that good stuff but it's pretty neat to see the bare bones of things and how stuff is build from there up. Here's the latest pic this morning:

Ta-da!! Pinterest Tuesday is here!!

Ok so I picked a popular pin to try out; almost every mom I follow on Pinterest had this one pinned so I figured it'd be a good one. French toast, who doesn't like it? Heck I STILL love it :-) Once a Month Mom suggested this recipe to make a ton and freeze. This is her pic:

I opted to bake my own bread with this recipe, adding a few tweaks. If you've ever thought of making your own whole wheat loaf, this recipe rocks! Tried and true by yours truly.

Ok anywho, the recipe is awesome and I love how it sneaks in veggies for my uber sneaky eater. Even M & I have eaten it for breakfast!! Here's proof positive:

Wanna Experience My Bathroom Reno With Me?

Come on, you know you want to :-) Ok, if you've been following me from the start of this "problem" you know that pretty much, in a nutshell, our Re-Bath that was pre-existing in our home when we purchased failed. My message home: NEVER EVER PUT IN A BATH LINER aka Bath Fitter or Re-Bath. Seems so simple...one day and you have a new bathroom? You're right-too good to be true.

Part of me wanted to see what it looked like when they pulled the liner off of the original tub today, but our "renovation team" assured me that I should be glad I didn't. I was pretty gross and the standing water beneath the two layer STUNK! Ew Ew Ewwwww. Moving on. Here's a before pic (note, only one pic since our one full bathroom is small and doesn't allow for many angles). I should have took a better shot but above the white wall tiles the walls are cranberry. One of the few rooms we didn't do anything with when we moved it because there weren't many options:

After day one's demolition:

Stay Tuned......

Q T with my best gal

Wrestling season always seems to bring me to the question, am I really married? This is a joke :-) But thankfully we're almost done with this long sports season. This weekend M is out of state, taking 2 of his wrestlers to compete in the New England Tournement--pretty big deal in these parts :-) We're talking the best in the areas states and the guys have to qualify to get in. With dad since Friday morning and not returning until tomorrow me and Evelyn have been enjoying our mommy & daughter time. Yesterday when I picked her up from "school" and came home, things were a little iffy (everything I did brought on the water works from her) but dramatically improved this morning!

Had a great breakfast together, I cleaned and vacuumed while she played ** high five myself for not relying on the TV here** then we had lunch and painted our toes :-) She's gonna be a girly girl, I can just tell.

Then we took some cheesy pics on my phone to send to daddy...

We joined all the 5 bazillion other people at the mall and shopped a bit then my partner in crime crashed in the car on the drive home. So, here I am blogging away in my few moments of quiet time. Have a good weekend!

Time-Out Thursday!!

I was a good girl yesterday **high five myself**. I ran on the treadmill!! Prob more so due to the fact that I was out of work early as a result of snow but hey, it allowed me some time for me :-) I'm not gonna lie, it felt pretty good to get a little sweat going since I've been seriously slacking on my exercise lately. I knew that I'd prob be sore the next day, so I followed up with some restorative yoga in my daughter's playroom.

Ok, so there was no meditating or Om-ing, but it got the job done. When's the last time you had a physical while doing your down dog?? Love that kid :-) Maybe she'll take after me and work in healthcare...

I'm gonna get more consistent...I'm gonna get more consistent!!