What we've been up to...

So time is definitely flying! In less than a month I'm turning 30. In less than a month and a half, our little man will be one. (Whoa. That's hard to even type.) In less than two months we will be living in Pennsylvania.

Almost 30 and almost 1!

We've been super busy enjoying the rest of our time here in Florida and beginning to plan for our new life "up north." We made a Florida to-do list for our remaining weeks and have been checking things off one at a time. Zoo, aquarium, beach, Gainesville trip, baseball games, hanging out with friends and family... We are also planning another trip to PA to search for our new home. We are trusting in God to help with the timing of our town home selling and moving to all work out. On top of all this fun and (a little bit of) stress, Chris has also begun his new sales position while still doing his old job.

Meanwhile, I've had two little projects that I have been working on. (Besides my normal job of, "Keep Brady From Eating the Dog Food/Cat Litter/Other Kids at Library Time" Project). I've always been a big fan of meal planning and love "strategic grocery shopping" AKA buying ingredients that can be used in many meals throughout the week, using fresh ingredients up at the beginning of the week, and finding ways to save time and money. Sometimes I like to have theme nights throughout the week to make it easy to plan. In other words, Tuesday is crock pot night, Wednesday is Mexican night, etc. I've also been going back and forth on the idea of trying vegetarianism, but I know that would be hard to do on my own and my Texan hubby has made it clear that "no meat" is "not an option." Also, this girl loves some Chick-fila a little too much to give it up all together. Soooo, I remembered an episode of Oprah I saw where the entire staff tried having a "Meatless Monday" every week. I thought this would be a great way to reduce the amount of meat we eat, focus on consuming more vegetables, and add a new theme night to the repertoire. There are tons of reasons to reduce the amount of animal proteins in your diet such as reducing your risk of diabetes, cancer, obesity, and your negative impact on the environment, so I convinced Chris that we should give it a try. Now, I knew I had to get creative to convince him that he really didn't need any type of meat throughout the day, but we've done pretty well our first few weeks. Here's two of the meals I've made that got a huge thumbs up from Chris.

Zucchini, squash, tomato pasta with garlic pesto cream sauce.

Bean burritos with avocado and sauteed onions and peppers

In no way shape or form am I claiming these to be diet foods. I get that cheese and cream sauce come from animals. But, the goal was to not eat meat and add more veggies to our diet which we definitely did. I'm on the lookout for more Meatless Meals on Pinterest, but I'd love to know if you have any tried and true Meatless Meals that you make. If you want more info on the Meatless Monday idea, check out this website: http://www.meatlessmonday.com/ I'm super excited about it and hope others can get on board to help make a positive change in our environment and health!

OK, so on to project #2...Brady's 1st birthday party! It doesn't seem possible that this is happening next month, but it definitely is so I am in full on party planning mode. Brady has his multiple wardrobe choices all laid out for the party, paper goods are bought, and decorations are, um, a work in progress. Here's a little sneak peek of my attempt to by crafty for this event.

Gotta love chalkboard paint!

Potential centerpiece...oh dear! It will look better by June 16!

So now we just need to pray for good weather the day of the party and for a happy baby who doesn't mind be overwhelmed by tons of people right in the middle of his normal naptime. Luckily there will be cake and the aforementioned Chick-fila nuggets at the party so, it's all good...