My Family

My Family

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Yummy Healthy Smoothie

Trevor and I started making these smoothies when we did the Daniel Fast at the beginning of the year. They are super easy, they don't require a lot of ingredients and they are yummy! So I thought I'd share. 

Here are the ingredients:
1 banana
1 cup almond milk (I used unsweetened vanilla)
1 cup frozen blueberries (you can use any frozen fruit or a mix, I just prefer blueberry)
1 tbs flaxseed
3 ice cubes 

I put all of the ingredients in my Ninja, mix it up and done! 





I have even made a few at a time and just stored it in my refrigerator for the next few mornings. Delish!!

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Florida

We always plan a couple vacations a year and this year our first summer trip was to Florida. My family has a family reunion in Holland, MI every year and we try to go every other year and last year we made a trip to Port Aransas, TX with Trevor's dad's side of the family; so Trevor's mom was thinking it was her turn to take a trip together. Trevor's brother, Austin is stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, so we decided to go to Destin, FL (which is just south of Eglin). Trevor's mom and step-dad found a house right on the water, sadly, I didn't get any pictures of the house! It was a pretty neat place though!

Trevor's mom, step-dad and grandma all left on Friday, but we had a wedding to go to on Saturday, so we decided to leave on Sunday morning after the wedding. We also had a change in our schedule due to an unforeseen event (I'll have to blog about that one later), so we actually didn't leave until Monday morning! We arrived in Destin at about 2:00am Tuesday. The drive honestly wasn't too bad. We weren't in a major hurry to get there either since we knew we would just arrive and end up going to sleep. We also had Winnie with us, so we took several pit stops to let him out, get some water, and eat. 
I also bought the first two seasons of Chicago Fire to watch on the drive, which seemed to make the trip go faster. I think I have Trevor hooked! ;) 

The whole trip was pretty relaxing! We got to sleep in, eat amazing seafood, hang out with our nephews, fish, go to the beach...etc!

On Tuesday we got up, unpacked a bit, and got ready for a day at the beach. We ate lunch at the Crab Trap and then headed for the sand. 

We then headed back to our house and just hung out on the dock out back. Trevor and his brother did some fishing and we caught some crabs with the boys. 


That evening we took a water taxi to the other side of the cove we were in and ate dinner at Margaritaville. There was a parade and things that evening, but we must have arrived too late because we didn't get to see it. 

This is the view off of our balcony. So pretty and relaxing!

On Wednesday the guys were scheduled to golf in the morning, so us ladies went shopping. When the guys were finished, we ate lunch at Cheeseburger in Paradise and then headed to the beach. We initially thought it was going to rain, but it seemed to pass over. We were going to a beach that wasn't very busy, so we took Winnie along. He definitely enjoyed himself! For some reason he just LOVES the sand! He entertains himself for hours!








Thursday was a shopping day. We literally shopped at the outlet mall the entire afternoon. We definitely found some great buys! Most of them were new kitchen gadgets! I love the Kitchen store!
That evening we went to Austin and Crystal's house for dinner. We got to see their house, hang out with the boys and eat delicious roast.  

Friday was a beach and seafood day! We woke up and headed to the beach before it got too hot. We decided to take Winston to the beach too since he loves it! Trevor bought a new game called Kadima (it's two large paddles and a rubber ball - it seemed similar to ping-pong so we knew we would like it!) we looked up how to play and honestly it just said to keep a volley going as long as possible. We looked a bunch of different sites and another guy decided he wanted to make the game more challenging, so we decided to play by the rules that he made up! We enjoyed playing while Winston enjoyed digging!


here is the link to how we played




We met up with Vanessa, Tony and Pat (Trevor's mom, stepdad and grandma) for lunch at a place called Hairy T's. It was delicious!! We had bacon wrapped crab stuffed shrimp! Amazing!! 
We then headed back to the beach. We basically just relaxed and people watched. 




When we returned from the beach we hung out with our nephews a bit more and then they had to leave to go back home. Trevor and I then went to The Village at Baytowne Wharf. We went there once in college on a spring break trip and we made it a point to go back. We even drove by our house that we stayed at in college!...so many memories!! Haha! 


We walked around Baytowne for a little bit and then decided to eat at Acme, a New Orleans style restaurant, for dinner. I even got to try oysters for the first time! This place was known for their amazing oysters, so I'm glad this was my first experience. They were pretty good!








On the way home I spotted this little gem...


We used to have this amazing ice cream place in Broken Arrow, but it closed years ago. Now, the only places I can find them are Joplin, MO and Conway, AR. Don't ask how I know that! Lol! So now I know that Destin, FL has one! I was so excited! Although I was stuffed from dinner, I had to get one!


Friday was our last day in FL, so Saturday morning we packed up and hit the road. 

As usual, a few bad things always have to happen on trips. The first bad thing happened back home. Trevor's dad was watching out lab Whiskey while we were gone and he called us the first day we were in FL to tell us that Whiskey got in a little fight. I guess him and Trevor's dads dog ran down the road and another persons dog and them got in a little fight. Whiskey ended up biting the owner of the third dog. I'm sure he didn't mean to, but he was trying to break them up and got in the middle. Whiskey now has some nasty bites on the back of his neck. I'm not sure what we are going to do about it yet. Hopefully it will just heal quickly. Thankfully, the owner that was bit was extremely nice and understanding. The second bad thing that happened was on the way home while driving a rock flew up and hit my windshield and cracked it. Thankfully, it was a pretty small chip. 

Now we are home doing laundry and trying to get everything back in order before our next trip!

Monday, June 8, 2015

Bandana Bibs


My sister-in-law found out she was pregnant last fall and since I have been on a sewing kick, she asked if I would be interested in helping her make these cute bandana bibs. I, of course, said yes! I get to make my sweet nephew some bibs, plus I get to encounter a new sewing project! These are by no means something I made up. We used this website as a guide and printed their patterns.


What you will need:
Two different fabrics 
Thread
Velcro or snaps
Scissors
Straight pens

I first printed the bandana pattern and my sister-in-law picked out fabric. I wanted cute thread to go with the fabric, so I got some thread that went well with all of the colors. These were honestly super easy!! 

First, cut your fabric based on the pattern. 
It's labeled on the pattern, but the fabric you want to go on the back is the U shaped one (the black fabric in my photo) and whatever you want to be the front side is the other one (the red one in my photo). 

You will then pin them together. You want the right sides facing each other. I stuck a pin through the center of both, just to keep the centers lined up. 

I started from the bottom V part when I pinned. I went up along the right side...
And stopped about half way down the inner U shape. Then I did the other side the same. 

The inner U shape is a bit baggy so you are able to make it look like a bandana. So you have to make 3-6 little pleats. I did 4 pleats on most, but some required a few more, so just use your best judgement on each. 


Now it's time to sew. Sew along the outside, but leave a small opening so you will be able to flip it right side out. 


It might not line up perfect, but that's okay.
Then flip it right side out through your small opening. 
Before you sew along the outer edge, you will want to iron it just to flatten it out  so it lays exactly how you want it. 

You will then want to do your top stitch. I chose black thread for the bottom and red thread for the top. 


After you do your top stitch you will want to finish it with Velcro or snaps (or whatever you choose). I would probably do snaps, but my sister-in-law wanted Velcro, so Velcro it was!

I just love how they turned out!


I think Mr. Jude is set for bibs for awhile!! When he is born I will have to take a picture of him wearing them!!

Happy sewing!!

Friday, June 5, 2015

4th Anniversary


This year was definitely an exciting one! I would have to say it was the best year yet and for so many reasons! (I know that sounds really cliche!) Here are all of the events year 4 brought!

Trevor and I both knew going into year 4 that we were taking new jobs! I switched from Union to BA and Trevor switched from EY to Samson Resources. I didn't know it at the time, but for me, it was the best year I would have had yet. I had the most INCREDIBLE students. I built such great relationships with them that when I left on Christmas break I teared up and I really wasn't ready for the last day of school with them! It was just an incredible year!

We went to my cousins wedding in Kansas. 

We went to see Wicked!

We vacationed in Port Aransas with Trevor's dad. 

We went to Michigan with my family. 

We went on a houseboat trip with friends and had so much fun!

We got OSU season tickets for football. It was so much fun seeing college friends each weekend!

We ran a 5k in support of our good friend Morghan's mom!

I started singing at Lifechurch in February 2014, but I really feel like the fall/winter of 2014 is when I really made a connection with the members of the band and just felt a whole new confidence when I was on stage. It is one of the things I look forward to every week. I truly think this church and the relationships we have built through it are timeless!

We went to Arkansas with friends and went to a football game there for the first time. 

We bought a hot tub!!

We threw our first baby shower for our neighbors. 

We started reading the bible together, so we could read cover to cover in a year. 

We went to a basketball game in Stillwater. 

We got to see Garth Brooks in concert!

We bought a new car!!! And sadly, sold the Golden Goddess. 

I started singing at Switch for Lifechurch while Trevor played softball on Wednesday nights. Many of my students came to Switch on Wednesdays and it was so neat to see my relationship with each of those students grow!

We took a weekend trip to Eureka Springs just the two of us for a goal setting weekend! It was so romantic!

Our friends from Houston came to visit on the snowiest weekends we had in Tulsa!

We both turned 27. 

We went to our first hockey game together. 

We made some new friends that it feels like we've known forever. 

We went on a ski trip with our Lifegroup, who we consider some of our best friends!

We got tattoos!!!

Trevor shot his first turkey!

We played more ping pong than I've probably ever played in my life!

We celebrated our 4 year anniversary!!

When I think about year 4, the word that comes to mind is "relationships". I truly think this is the year we made some of the best friends, whether is was strengthening the friendships we already had, making new friends, the relationships that I build with all of my students and colleagues, the friendships that stemmed from Trevor's new job. And most importantly, the relationship we have with #1, so my relationship with #2 can be the best it's ever been. I didn't go into year 4 expecting this, but our friends and family have truly exceeded my expectations! I am just so overwhelmed by the amount of support that people have for us!

We stuck to our theme of cooking dinner together at home and just enjoying each other's company. Yesterday morning Trevor took me to my favorite breakfast...doughnuts and coffee (I know, so healthy! Lol! That's why I try and only have it on special occasions!) Trevor then had to work, but I met him for lunch downtown and we ate at El Guapo. When Trevor got off work, I took him to get his anniversary present, which was a pistol. Year 4 is either traditional- fruit or modern- appliance. So I decided a pistol was kind of like an appliance. Trevor went the fruit route. We will be taking a trip to Texas so we can go to a winery. Also, while we are there we will be visiting one of my very good friends and her husband! I cannot wait for this little getaway. That evening we made shrimp skewers on the grill and I always make a special dessert of some kind. This year it was a brownie and strawberry dessert. It doesn't really have a name, but it was delicious! I'll have to share the recipe sometime. It was from Trevor's grandma, so I guess I need to make sure it's not a family secret first! ;)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

I have no idea what year 5 will bring, but I'm thinking the word "change" will probably be fitting!