Day 148 - 151 of Project 365

Just a glimpse at some of our Memorial Day Weekend Fun!

Day 147 of Project 365

Day 146 of Project 365

Day 145 of Project 365

Day 144 of Project 365

Another fun play date at the Portland Children's Museum :)

Day 143 of Project 365

Last October we took this picture of Tommy (our truck... yes, we name our vehicles:) and joked about how it looked like it should be in a car commercial. We didn't want Ellie (our car) to feel left out, so we took this picture of her at the beach this weekend.

Day 142 of Project 365

We had a great get away this weekend. We spent Saturday at the coast where we enjoyed some sunshine on the beach and some intermittent rain showers, which made for gorgeous sky pictures! We explored some new places, visited the ship wreck at Fort Stevens State Park, had some "kick ass" coffee in Astoria... then it was off the Clatskanie for the night, where we ate a delicious (and HUGE) dinner at Humps Restaurant (see Rob above with our bag of left overs) and enjoyed great accommodations at the Clatskanie River Inn. All in all, a great way to celebrate our 3 years of marriage :)

Day 141 of Project 365

Thanks for planning a fun girls get together Gretchen! I had a great time :)

Day 140 of Project 365

Well, we were supposed to run 11 miles tonight but the rain and hail kind of 'damp'ered our plans. Okay, it soaked us! Our shoes and socks were squishy with water and my rain jacket needed to be wrung out when I got home. We were troopers though and we pushed through despite the desire to call a husband or two to the rescue. We did trim an extra loop off of our usual route and walked the last mile, making the grand total 9 miles, still no small feat considering the conditions! God was good to us though, and rewarded our perseverance with this beautiful double rainbow to enjoy. Sometimes it's the little things that make it all worth while...

Day 139 of Project 365

Day 138 of Project 365

Play date :) They both look a little guilty don't they? Hmmm, wonder what they were getting into?

Day 137 of Project 365

Day 136 of Project 365

Today was definitely a sleepy day. We did manage to make it to church, despite the fact that a restless child kept me up most of the night, but that was mainly because I had told two different people that I would bring stuff to church for them, otherwise I'm sure I would have been tempted to stay in bed! I think I got 3 hours of sleep total! That hasn't happened since Jenica was about 5 or 6 weeks old! After church, Jenica totally zonked in the car, which is when I took this adorable picture of her. We came home and had lunch and Rob was sweet enough to let me go lay down and take a nap. When I woke up, he and Jenica were cuddled up on the couch together napping themselves. It was very sweet! Then we all got up and went for a 4 mile run, so it wasn't a completely lazy day. And tonight is the Survivor season finale, so another great excuse to be lazy on the couch and maybe pop some popcorn. Mmmmm.

Day 135 of Project 365

How many country girls does it take to figure out a downtown Portland parking meter? In our case, it took 6! This was the start to our fun girls night out to celebrate Jana's birthday. Dinner at Mother's Bistro, Letters to Juliette at Pioneer Place and dessert at the Melting Pot. Oh and somewhere in the middle we lost our car, but not to worry, we eventually found it! This was the only picture I took all night but Jodi has a great one on her camera of all of us in front of the Melting Pot entrance. When I get it from her, I'll probably use that as my picture of the day instead of this one... as funny as this one may be :) Thanks for having a birthday Jana!

Day 134 of Project 365

Well, tax season is over so our "office" has been converted back into a portrait studio... and my friend Cassi and her family were my first customers. They came over today to get family pictures done with their newest addition, little Ky, already 3 months old. Although he wouldn't for the life of us show off his adorable smile, we still got some really cute shots! I especially like the one of all three of the kids together. Thanks guys for letting me photograph your adorable family!

Day 133 of Project 365

We've been bumping up our long runs by about a mile a weeks so today we hit the double digits! What an accomplishment! Our first half marathon is only 6 weeks away...

Day 132 of Project

This isn't my own recipe, it's from allrecipes.com (I love that site)! But it is delicious and I lightened it up a little from the original. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 3/4 pound sliced pepperoni sausage (I used 1 package of Hormel turkey pepperoni)
• 2 tablespoons minced shallots
• 4 medium tomato - peeled, seeded and chopped (I used cherry tomatoes cut in half_
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream (I only had a half a cup so I substituted milk for the rest)
• 1 (16 ounce) package penne pasta
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Cook the penne according to the package directions.
2. In a large skillet saute the pepperoni until crispy (about 5 to 8 minutes). Drain all but 1 tablespoon of the grease (you won't need to do this with turkey pepperoni). Add the shallot and garlic. Cook until translucent. Stir in the tomatoes and simmer for about 3 minutes.
3. Stir in the cream and cook until reduced (about 8 minutes). Add the parsley and remove from the heat.
4. Add the drained pasta and toss, garnish with parmesan cheese.

Day 131 of Project 365

Today I decided to bake a pie, not just any pie though... a rhubarb pie. The challenge... Rob doesn't like rhubarb pie... hmmm. So, I created my own recipe, and ya know what, it turned out pretty darn good! I'll let him give his own review of it, but for now, here is the recipe in case you want to give it a whirl:

Ingredients:
4 cups rhubarb, chopped in 1/2" pieces
2 cups strawberries, quartered
Juice from one orange
2 tablespoons orange zest
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup flower
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter
Refrigerated pre-made pie crusts (2)

Combine rhubarb, strawberries, orange juice and orange zest in one bowl. Combine the remaining dry ingredients in another bowl. Carefully mix the two together and pour into pie plate lined with one pie crust. Top with the two tablespoons of butter, cut in small pieces. Add top pie crust, crimp edges and cut slits in the top to vent. Bake in 400 degree oven for 50 minutes. If edges begin to brown, cover with aluminum foil. Cool and enjoy!

Joi, this would have been your "birthday pie" if you could have got a ticket here for the day! Hope you enjoyed your day off and one more big HAPPY BIRTHDAY shout out before your special day comes to an end. Love you friend!

Day 130 of Project 365

Serves 4 Hands-On Time: 15m Total Time: 30m

Ingredients

• 2 sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into thin wedges
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 4 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 bunch spinach, thick stems removed (about 4 cups)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Directions

1. Heat oven to 425° F.
2. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the potatoes, onion, 2 tablespoons of the oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Roast until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes per side.
4. In a large bowl, toss the warm potato mixture with the spinach, lime juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Serve with the chicken.

Nutritional Information 

     Per Serving

• Calories 388Calories From Fat 33%
• Protein  39g
• Carbohydrate  26g
• Sugar  7g
• Fiber  6g
• Fat  14g
• Sat Fat  3g
• Sodium  811mg
• Cholesterol  94mg

Day 129 of Project 365

Sunday was a big day! Not only was it Mother's Day, it was also my sisters 29th birthday and her son Egan was getting dedicated (or decorated, as his almost 3 year old sister Kayla described it) at church. We were able to go up and spend the weekend with them. Most of the pictures from our visit are on facebook. If you are interested in seeing more you can click here.

Day 128 of Project 365

Jenica with her cousins Kayla (almost 3) and Egan (8 months).

Day 127 of Project 365

This is what I said to Brandi today after taking this cute picture of Judah and Jenica: "I know it's highly unlikely that they will get married someday but if they did, wouldn't this just make the cutest picture in their wedding slide show?" He is quite the little gentleman and looks out for her like a big brother. It's very cute to watch and his mommy and daddy should be very proud! We definitely wouldn't mind having them as in laws someday ;)

Day 126 of Project 365

Today I took pictures of two adorable little girls. Bridget is 3 1/2 and Maddie will be 2 in June. Although it was "challenging" to get the girls in the same frame and both looking at the camera at the same time, it was great practice for me and I think we got some really cute shots. The black and white one is Rob's favorite, so I'm using it for my picture of the day (as long as their mom doesn't mind:). Here are a couple more from our fun little photo shoot.

Day 125 of Project 365

Day 124 of Project 365

Despite the crazy weather we have been having, Jenica and I were able to enjoy some outdoor time twice today, one of which included a 4 mile run pushing the stroller! Here's a pretty tree picture I took with the iPhone along the way.

Day 123 of Project 365

It was so nice to have a visit from my friend Julie today. We don't see each other nearly enough now that we attend different churches. We spent the morning catching up, drinking delicious coffee and watching Jenica play. Thank you so much for making the drive out Julie! We really need to get together more often. I love your company and your sweet spirit!

Day 122 of Project 365

Grace: the freely given, unmerited favor and love of God. 

I want to live under the grace of God. But in order to do that, I also have to offer grace and forgiveness to those around me. That can be a hard thing to do, especially in the midst of hurt or betrayal. But when we offer others the grace that God so freely gives to us, it opens our hearts to allow Him to move in our lives and work things together for good (Romans 8:28 - one of my favorite scriptures). 

Day 121 of Project 365

Our "long run" for the week is up to 8 miles, and I just looked at the calendar and our first half marathon is exactly 8 weeks away! We got the run out of the way early this morning, which felt great, and we were both able to do it with out any pain. Praise God! Then it was off to Red Robin for lunch to make up for all those extra calories I burned running. Oh how I love their french fries! And it was so great to catch up with an old friend. I meant to take her picture for my picture of the day but forgot, so instead you get this pretty scenery shot... taken with my iPhone, of course!

Day 120 of Project 365

Yay, our weekly walks at the golf course are back! Thanks Emelye. Even though we didn't make it all the way around, it was still fun! Maybe the weather will be more co-operative next week!