High Five for Friday

Happy Friday everyone! 

1.  Last weekend we carved pumpkins with friends. I think you can tell which is mine.  :)  Although I would have to say Mike won on his 3D pop design!

2.  Jesse and I stopped by the Summit to see the Elio car, a USA-made small, gasoline powered car which gets 84 mpg for just under $7,000. It officially hits the market next year for those that have already signed up for one. We sat in the production car, which actually has a backseat. You ride tandem style as a passenger, and there is a tiny little trunk if you had...I don't know... a binder or something extra.

3.  Our school celebrated one of our best teachers this week as she gears up for her last full marathon in all 50 states! She started this goal a few years ago, then found out she had breast cancer, but it didn't stop her at all. Dr. Than is one of the most inspiring women, teachers, optometrists I've met. I remember in the first few weeks of our first semester in her class, she came in and apologized for not replying to emails the night before - she had flown to Las Vegas to run a marathon, caught a red eye flight back home, and arrived in time to teach our 8:00 class. She was really touched that we students were so supportive of her finishing her marathon goal.  You can read an article of her story HERE.

4. Rewinding to last Friday, my friend Heather took me to one of her new favorite places in town to eat, Wasabi Juan's. It's a blend of Mexican and Japanese (sushi, specifically), which sounds really weird, but it was good! I had a tuna roll, which was fairly the same as regular sushi, so I'll have to go back and give some other rolls a shot with more Mexican flair.

5. Jesse spent most of the week in Dothan for work and returned on Thursday which was also his birthday! We finally celebrated after he returned home around 8pm after music practice at church. I had dinner hot and ready for him, followed by his requested birthday treat: ricotta cheese cookies. I'm glad he made it back in town to celebrate his 27 years. And I'm glad I've been in his life for most of those years!

High Five for Friday

Two Friday posts in a row! You guys are so lucky. ;)

1. Last weekend we celebrated our friend Mike's (aka Brother's) birthday! A group of his friends surprised him at one of his favorite restaurants where we ate, laughed, and even played Mike Trivia. Embarrassing senior photos also made an appearance. Then, we went home to Luverne just long enough to visit our parents and go to our dentist appointments. (You know us, living on the wild side!) It was so nice to be home, even for just a little while. I love that we are from the same town and can have our parents all together for dinner while we are there.

2. Monday and Tuesday I was off of school for "fall break." When it's only two days, I'm not sure you can call that a break...more of an extended weekend. When it's not enough time for professors to refrain from giving you assignments, it's not a true break. Monday was spent in the dentist office, and Tuesday I finally got my hair trimmed. No drastic photo to share; and I'm keeping the bangs for a while! Mostly because I really have liked them, and secondly because it's likely to be the most awkward hair grow-out of my life and I'm not looking forward to figuring out how to transition that.

3. Jesse finished his second class of his MBA program this past week! Taking one at a time has seemed to be just the right pace. He's in no hurry to complete it (he will finish when I graduate), and this way he is not overwhelmed after work on a regular basis.

4.  Be babysat our favorite toddler this week. She's getting bigger and smarter by the day. Much of our night was spent rolling around in the floor to her direction to "exsh-cise" after seeing Jesse's weights. She continued on, doing yoga poses, then rode on Jesse's back while he did push ups, then she just climbed and jumped all over him, repeatedly yelling "more!"

5.  I made two new meals and one repeat this week that we really enjoyed. I think I enjoy cooking more in the fall/winter months than laboring over a hot stove/oven in the hotter summer season. Plus, soups are easy and delicious and warm the soul. From left to right we have: a butternut squash, lentil, barley, kale soup I threw together (recipe HERE), Pioneer Woman's Spinach Artichoke Pasta, and spaghetti squash with these very flavorful chicken meatballs which are super fast to make. The last dish also taught me that if you forget to buy the spaghetti sauce, one 8 oz can of tomato sauce and one Roma tomato blended in the food processor with a few shakes of herbs for a few seconds can make do! Also I would like to rave (again) that our Aldi grocery store had these squash for 99 cents a piece (not a pound)! Take that, Publix,

A Simple Party

This week I had the opportunity from HouseParty.com to host another party! I received the party pack a few weeks ago, and was excited to share some of my favorite new skin care products with a few friends! We got together for dinner Thursday night where we ate BBQ pulled pork sliders, coleslaw, and pumpkin pound cake. Then the ladies got to try the line of products.

Even Maggie was pampered.

Each guest took home a goody bag of travel sized products, and each also "won" a full-sized product as well.

We had a fun night sharing stories, advice on beauty products, and food. Hosting for HouseParty is a fun way to try products and a great excuse to get together with friends!

High Five for Friday

Well folks, it's almost been a month (or two?!) since I blogged last. I just haven't felt very motivated lately to post. I could blame it on school, but praise the Lord, this semester is not that bad. My schedule and coarse load are much more laid back.

We haven't been up to much lately, but I'd like to get back into the groove of sharing our favorite moments of the week. I think that helps us keep up to date, and I hope you enjoy reading about them. Let's catch up over the past several weekends!

My friend Kelli came over several weeks ago and helped me purge my closet. She was a helpful, honest opinion to say "yes" or "no" to all the items I've apparently hoarded into my closet. By the time we were done, our entire bed was covered in clothes!  It was way past time to do this. I had so many clothes from college (and maybe even high school) still hanging around because at some point in time they were my favorite pieces. They have long since lost their luster (and style), but for whatever reason I was hanging onto them. Also, my wardrobe needs have changed as I spend more time in the clinic. My closet is slowly being overtaken by more professional clothing, and Kelli was helpful pairing skirts and tops that I've never worn together before. Over Labor Day weekend we went to the mall to get some staple wardrobe items and tops to go with my skirt addiction.

We've spent a couple of Saturdays at our church preparing a prayer room with our community group. We redecorated a space into a peaceful feeling room, where people can come to pray and share prayer requests. There is a collage of frames on one wall which will soon be filled with inspirational verses about prayer.

A few weekends ago, we finally went to the Greek Food Festival. It happens every year at the Greek Orthodox Church in downtown B'ham, and we've managed to miss it the past 2 years. The festival is held over 3 days, morning to night. The preparation and volunteer efforts for are huge! The church takes up nearly a block itself, and there are multiple lines wrapping around the church to get ahold of some of their delicious food!  Between us and the Domenys we consumed quite the sampling: lamb kabobs, gyro wraps, pastichio, and for dessert baklava, kourambethes (Greek wedding cookie), and loukoumathes (honey donuts). Everything was delicious and totally worth the wait!

Last weekend we went camping with Mike, Kelsey, and Addy at Tannehill State Park. We picked the coldest night of the fall season to do so, but we had a great time! Most of it was spent around the campfire, but isn't that the best part of camping any way? Well, that and s'mores of course.

 Most meals were cooked over the fire... some a little more... charred than others. (Foil dinners in a fire do not take quite as long to cook as one would think...)

We explored an old Civil War trail near the Grist Mill.

 And these two melt my heart.... (She preferred only to swing with "Jesh.")

Have a great weekend! My (mini) fall break begins today, so I know I will have a good time!