Running, cheaper than therapy

Yay it is Friday!  I am so excited to lounge around the house with Clint and Ava for 2 days!!  Yesterday, wasn't too exciting, but still a good day! 

Ava and I got up and I did some house chores while she ate breakfast and then I got my run on.  Running is cheaper than therapy and I needed some yesterday!  While I ran, I bounced back and forth between my Kindle and praying.  9 MILES LATER, I felt good!  My mind was clear and my body loved me for running that long! 

I showered and got ready and we headed to Kmart to take a few things back.  My whole side of the family "adopted" 3 kiddos for Christmas and I needed to take a few things that were the wrong size back!
Returning those things was a breeze and Ava and I picked up a few odds and ends while we were there. 

We stopped at Goodwill and I found 3 stocking hangers for the mantle!  SCORE!!! 

Our last stop was Kroger to pick up some yeast for the bread machine since I am almost out.

Clint met us shortly after at home and Ava napped for 2 hours.  Clint cut the leaves in the yard one last time and I laid on the couch with Ava and read. 

After she woke up, we cuddled on the couch and watched, Tangled.

Ava is in to anything princess right now and I love this movie so it is a win win!

Clint came in and before he showered I cut his hair.  Saves money y'all!!!

Supper was homemade pizza!  I made a batch of dough about a month ago and froze it.  I put it in the fridge yesterday morning and then layed it on the counter about 30 min before we were to get it ready to be pizzafied.

The rest of the night was in typical Ferrell fashion of tv watching, playing in the floor, playing hockey and reading. 

And just because this picture cracks me up!

Have a great rest of the day and see ya soon!!

Productive patsy

Happy Wednesday y'all!  The sun is shining and it is a cold 23 degrees!  Eek!  At least the sun is out right?!
Yesterday, was a busy busy day!  We got up and I got coffee and got Ava breakfast.  I went to work on my grocery list and coupon gatherin'.  Ava and I had grocery shopping to do and I DO NOT go without a plan of attack! 
I finished that up and put away some Christmas totes and put a load of laundry in to wash.  I jumped on the treadmill and did a fab 7 miles!  I definately needed a shower! 

We started Elf on a Shelf last Christmas and Ava wasn't all that able to understand.  She would go look for Bryant (named after Bear Bryant).

This year though, it is fun!  We are day 3 of his coming.  He has "came back from Santa" and landed in a different spot in the house.  Yesterday morning after she found mama's hat and Bryant, she started "hiding" him in the same spot we had found him in that morning might I add.  She cracks me up!

We finished getting ready and packing snacks and the "search" was on.

We are on the hunt for good deals on groceries, I suppose!

In the organic section at Kroger. 

Our infamous buggy car picture at Kroger.

We came home and I unpacked groceries and cleaned up the kitchen.  I didn't get to that chore that morning.  I folded laundry and then when Clint got home we had to make a quick trip to Dollar General.

As soon as we got back, I put chili together to simmer on the oven until supper.  We caught up on some DVR shows and relaxed until supper.

This was spectacular!  I planned to have extra so we could have chili dogs for supper!  Yum.  I love comfort food, especially on cold nights.  Who doesn't right!!!

The rest of the night was Clint giving Ava a bath while I cleaned the kitchen and folded laundry and put it away.

I had planned on getting up and running this morning, but for some ODD reason, I didn't fall asleep until 2am!  98% of the nights, I fall asleep in like 10 min, so I haven't the slightest idea why I had a night of insomnia!  Having said that, I chose to sleep an extra hour.  I hope my body will think that was the smart thing to do....right?!

Well, time to get productive at work!

See ya soon!

After Thanksgiving weekend

Hey y'all!  I hope your long weekends were full of lots of good food, family and fun!  Ours was!
Saturday, we all got up after sleeping in and I did a quick 5 miles on the treadmill.  We got dressed and went and did some more shopping. (Clint and I did Black Friday...10:30pm-3am) We headed to Kohl's and I got some Christmas presents for me from my parents.  I know I should be surprised but they really can't buy me new running shoes without me trying them on and they were too good of a deal to pass up!

We headed to TJMAXX after getting some good deals at Kohl's.  We found our 2 gifts for my family draw names and I turn around to find Ava with this hat on! Too funny!

We came home and got out fake tree out and started decorating it for the downstairs living room.  Christmas with a 2 year old is already SO MUCH FUN!!

She said, "the lights are beau-ti-ful"

We came home and watched Alabama football and snacked the rest of the day on leftovers.

mmm...leftovers

Sunday, I got up and ran a little over 6 miles and we got ready for church.  We took our Christmas card picture in front of the tree since we were all "church outfit" ready! It makes me one proud parent to have Ava so excited about church and Sunday school.  Makes me more excited to go to!
We came home and finished off the leftovers.  I love leftovers, but I am so glad they are gone!!!
After lunch and Ava's nap we headed to a local nursery and got a reall Fraser fur tree for our upstairs bonus room.

Scoping out "the" tree.

Not real sure of the Grinch.

Whew, that sun was bright!

We came home and while the sun was out Clint put lights on the bushes outside, lined the sidewalk with candy canes, put lights on the porch and MADE this cross with lights on it!

We got to decorating the tree and miss Diva was such a ham in decorating it.  Lord, I love this kid!!

How many Christmas trees do y'all have or will have in your house??
Do you do fake or real!!

Have a great Monday and see ya soon!!

Thanksgiving x2 2012 in pictures

Errands to prepare

                                                     Happy Friday! Wednesday I mean! 

It feels like Friday for sure to me!  Last day of work before a 4 day weekend.

Yes, Please! 

Yesterday, Ava and I slept in until about 6:45am.  I know, how lazy!  I got my grocery list and coupons together and did a few house chores.  All that was marked off my list, so I could get my workout on!

10 minute Bodyrock workout.  The portion between my arm and my boobs is super duper sore today! It was a good workout, so I glad take the soreness!

I hopped on the treadmill and did 5 easy peasy miles. 

I am pretty sure I am fully recovered from my Achilles injury, yay! I really missed running!

We got ready and headed out for our Target/Kroger run.

I timed our errands just right.

Nap on the way.

It is TOTALLY ok to take a nap with your sunglasses on upside down!!

At Target we needed dog food and Vue cups.  Lifting a 42lb bag of dogfood into the buggy and then in to your car is NO EASY FEAT!!

I'm sure I looked not so fantastic hefting that bad boy either!

Kroger was next on the list! This visit we did get a buggy car for Ava to ride in.  Although she teeters between riding in the car, walking, me holding her and if she is eating a snack, riding in the real seat of the buggy.  She is a blast!  Truly!

After saving about $40 at Kroger. woot woot!

We stopped at the Dollar tree to get a couple of things I knew would be there and of course be a dollar.

She wanted to carry the basket and "no help, mama".

Okie doke, sister!

I was putting the groceries away and Ava got really quiet.  I went into the living room and caught her in the act.

I made these for my brother's wedding and the other night Clint showed me that she had stuck her hand in and mixed all of the layers up.

I caught her this time and just laughed at her.  What can ya do?!  It's still pretty, plus she was having fun.

We played on the back porch with Pekka and read some books until Clint got home and did a little more playing. 

The rest of the afternoon was relaxing.  We went on a family walk around the neighborhood and carried glowsticks!  That was fun for Ava!

Supper was leftovers and nothing real exciting happened the rest of the night.  We watched a DVR'ed Scandal and The Voice. 

I got up this morning and had planned to run 3 miles.  Well, I got on the treadmill a little earlier this morning and had a little extra time to do 4 miles.  4 miles before 5am?!  Don't mind if I do!!!

Tomorrow will be full of cooking getting ready for Clint's family to come over.

We are making:

a smoked ham

turkey

sweet potatoes with marshmallows

mac n cheese

homemade rolls

Reeses cake

Peanut butter kiss cookies

sweet tea.

Whew we will be busy!!

Have a great day tomorrow! See y'all soon!!

Shopping, Date night, Enjoying a Sunday

  Hey there sunshines!  I hope your weekend with swimmingly!  Ours did! Y'all getting ready for Turkey day or 6 of them?!  We have 2 this year and that is plenty!  We are doing Clint's side of the family at our house on Thursday and then my side of the family on Friday at my uncle's house.  That is after Black Friday shopping with Clint!  It is one of my favorite dates of the year with him! It will be our 5th Black Friday date!  We get up with the "crazies" and shop.  We have no plan, we just shop and laugh at the crazies!  Good times!

On to our weekend.  Saturday morning we got up and got ready and hit up a warehouse sale full of sports tailgating paraphanalia.

Seriously, it was a warehouse!!  This sale only happens once a year for 3 days.  We got Clint's dad'd Christmas present and a few other things for us.

No buggy here, you get a WAGON to carry all of your stuff around!  Ava loved it!

We needed a few things for our fridge, so we hit up Whole Foods. 

I will be honest, I prefer Trader Joe's over Whole Foods.  I know some people might scoff at me, but that is my preference!

I hadn't had breakfast and Clint was getting hungry after we stopped at Target and got a few more things. 

Enter Noshville.  It is a New York Delicatessan and pretty good.

She is telling us a great story!!

(That's not coffee in her cup either, but water. )

We came home and I ran 3 easy miles and we did a tag team house cleaning.  I pretty much keep our house clean because I am home 2 days of the work week, but it does get lived in and things are out of place.  It took us about 45 minutes to pick up. 

Clint's mom's friend was visiting from New York and she wanted us and Clint's brother and his wife to go out in downtown Nashville with them. 

My parent's kept Ava for us, so it was a date night!  We weren't sure what to expect, but off we went!

We all met at the Hard Rock Cafe.  They wanted the whole Nashville experience!  Our server was awesome and comet o find out lives in our town.  Small world people!

After supper, we took off walking.  We wanted to go to a "honky tonk" (country word for bar).  The only draw back was that my MIL's friend's daughter was only 19.  Ohyea, and she didn't have her ID on her.  Makes going to a bar very difficult!!

Finally, we found a place that would let her in ID free until 9pm with a parent.  It was only like 6pm, so in we went!  Let me tell you I have not laughed so hard in a long time!  My MIL is a dancing MACHINE!!  She got out on that floor and had not a care in the world!!  I had had one beer at supper like 2 hours before, so I didn't drink anymore, but let Clint partake in a few brew-has.  But people watching and watching my MIL was priceless!!   Being sober was never more fun!!!

Sunday I got up and ran another easy 3 miles and then we got ready for church.

It was a breathe of fresh air for my week! 

Lunch was at my uncle's house and we had tacos and banana pudding!  Favorite meal ever!  We had that for our Rehearsal dinner for our wedding!

We came home for a long afternoon of NOTHING to do!  The house was clean, well I did 2 loads of laundry and hung them to dry, but that was nothing really! 

We played, we watched tv, we snacked.  Clint started playing Call of Duty, so I scooped Ava up and we came down to the kitchen and made Wheat Banana muffins. 

My awesome helper.  Her helper, Piper, was falling down on the job!

Look at these beauties!! They were so moist and yummy!!

Well, this morning I took off of working out and slept another hour. yay!

I need to get some work done at the office!

Have a great day and I'll see ya soon!

Recycling, cleaning, & playing

Happy Friday!!

Yesterday was a good day!  I started out the morning cuddling Ava and getting her breakfast and me coffee.  I did my morning She Reads Truth devotional and started some laundry. 

I vacuumed the house and the stairs and loaded the dishwasher. 

House chores-done!

Next up was taking all of our glass, plastic and mixed paper to the recycling center.

Ava slept during this chore. 

The recycling center is in the parking lot of my old middle school and when we were leaving I saw School Police Security leading in a Police dog!  How sad is that?!  Middle school and that is an issue!

Next up was cleaning the office.  I clean the office twice a month and Ava comes with me.  I bring her toys and snacks and she helps some too!  It works out!  She was doing a puzzle in the floor!

We got home and I had a bite to eat and then we hitched up our horse, I mean dog, Pekka and went for a stroll around the neighborhood. It was a beautiful Fall day!

When we get about 1/4 of a mile from home I usually let Ava walk and she was saying, "mama, I run sooo fast."  I love that she talks about running!! 

(side note.  I ran 3 miles this morning with NO pain in my Achilles!  I will play tomorrow by ear if I run or walk or both!)

We played outside for about an hour until Ava needed a snack She is using the oil funnel as a musical instrument.  Don't worry she did not put this in her mouth and I wiped it off before!

She's getting her daddy's Call of Duty headphones ready for him to use when he gets home!

Ava started getting tired about 4:30, so I held her and we cuddled with Clint and she fell fast asleep for about an hour.  I of course held her until it was time to go start supper.  Those moments are cherished! 

Supper was hormone free boneless pork chops, baked sweet potato fried and salads.  Good southern food! Well, the healthy version!

Have a great Friday!  I'll see ya soon!

His Call of Duty

That's right it is Wednesday!

I hope y'all had a great Tuesday!

Ava and I got up and I fixed her breakfast and I did my She Reads Truth reading and journaling.

This is such a blessing to my day!

I did my 15 minute workout and walked 2 miles in incline. Whew.  I got ready and got my coupons and plan of attack ready so we could go to Target and Kroger.

Target was up first!  I love Target!  I always scope the outer end caps for clearance deals!  You can use coupons on those and get even better deals!!  Plus you can use manufacturer coupons AND Target coupons on the same item.  OH and for every bag you bring in the store to use instead of theirs they give you $.05 back per bag?!!!   It is not much but EVERY bit helps!

Our first mission was to get

Call of Duty Back Ops 2 for Clint!

He really only plays video games at night after Ava goes to bed or just randomly, but each year for the past 3 I think we have bought THE game of the year.  Call of Duty is HUGE!  Yesterday, at one point there were over 400,000 people playing all over the WORLD!  And that was at like 4pm!  Crazy! I mean stores opened at midnight Wednesday morning for people to buy it!

Target was well stocked!!  YES!

We got some house cleaning products (METHOD products are AWESOME and plant based!), some VUE cups, M&Ms(coupons) oh and Ava some Christmas placemat coloring sheets! 

Next was Kroger.  We were both saddened that they didn't have to buggy car for Ava to ride in!

We started on our list!  Ava would walk down the aisles saying "we need this?" and I would say "nooo!(laughing the whole time at her).  We got to the pickles and she said "Aya needs pickles" and grinned like the Cheshire cat!  We didn't get the pickles. This kid is so funny!  I had her saying "crazy-pants" in the freezer aisle and the employee in that section was just a laughing.  Good times!

Apple for a snack on the way home!

We got home and to our surprise Clint was already home.  I guess he was excited to play his new game!

Ava was asleep, so I started to put together a recipe for homemade rolls and realized we didn't have any eggs. This is unheard of.  We ALWAYS have eggs until yesterday.  So, I told Clint I'd be back in a jiffy.  Well, 45 minutes later I got back home.  I saw my mom at the store and since I was getting her a turkey breast from that store (you could only get one and she wanted another for Thanksgiving) I told her to wait and I would run in and get it!   Well, of course she had to tell me stories from her Ladies Bible study from yesterday. 

I finally got home and Ava was still asleep, so I put the ingredients in the bread machine to make the dough and did some cleaning.  Clint was by then playing Call of Duty, so I emptied the dishwasher, dusted the house, sprayed the bathroom down and folded laundry.  While the husband plays, the wife gets housework done!  Ava finally woke up and we went up to the bonus room with Clint and hung out and caught up on The Voice from Monday night.  I went to put the rolls int he oven after they rose some.  They didn't rise that much.  I think the house was too cold.  Oh well, they were a trial run for Thanksgiving.  I know better for next week. 

I came down and made sausage cajun rice and cut up stuff for a salad.  Good, semi healthy and comforting supper! 

After supper was bath time for Ava.  Clint took care of that while I cleaned the kitchen and then it was family time until Ava went to bed!

All in all a good day!  No complaints and plenty blessed!

Have a good Wednesday and I'll see ya soon.

Tea parties and balloons

Hey there! Yep, it is Monday!

It is raining and the temperature is going to drop throughout the day.  Cold and rainy...yuck!

I hope you had a great weekend. We sure did.  Let me back up to Friday though first before I go into what we did Saturday and Sunday.

Clint has been making breakfast smoothies for us about 4 days a week.  He does NOT disappoint!

I'm never REALLY sure what is in these, but they are tasty and I know he uses healthy stuff, because Ava and I do the grocery shopping. ;-)

Ava stays at my parent's house on days I work, but I get a 2 hour lunch.  We live 5 minutes from my work and they live 5 minutes past my work, so I get lunch with her EVERY day I work!  Such a perk!

Tea party at lunch on Friday!

Saturday, we got up and I did a 2 mile walk on the treadmill at a 6.5% incline and 4.3 mph.  I worked up a good sweat!  I "tried" to run for a minute, but I could feel my Achilles pulling, so I slowed back down.  I will just walk for the next few days and continue to let it rest. (ugh)

Publix has turkeys for $.69/lb so I told Clint we needed to go for

1. we are hosting Thanksgiving for his family

2. the turkeys don't get ANY cheaper than that!

I deemed Saturday "No makeup" day!  Some days it is good to have a clean face and "no eyes on".

At Publix, an employee was handing out flowers and then Ava got a balloon!  She was tickled pink!

Clint suggested we stop at the little antique place!

It was AMAZING!  I could have stayed in there a while, well we did, but I could have stayed longer and spent lots of money!

We went home and watched Alabama, sadly get beat.  It was a somber house for about 45 min.

Clint turned on the grill and grilled hormone free steak for him and me a black bean burger.  I sauteed some asparagus and made a salad. 

GOOD STUFF!

Sunday morning I got up and did a bodyrock workout and then walked 1.5 miles at the same speed and incline as Saturday.

We got ready and headed to church. 

Ava was so excited to go. We let her wear her flower girl dress from my brother's wedding about a month ago. 

(wedding day picture)

She kept running around the house saying, "I'm a princess. "I'm a princess." And "we're going to church, we're going to church." 

Too funny!

After church, we went to my aunt and uncle's house for lunch. She had make your own sub sandwiches, chips, dip and meatballs.

YUM!

As soon as we got home, I put the ingredients in the bread machine for our weekly loaf of sandwhich bread. Hands down the best recipe!

Isn't that beautiful?!.

We lounged around until supper.  It was glorious! 

Supper was biscuits (gravy for Clint), eggs, and turkey bacon (and a banana for Ava).  LOVE breakfast ANY time of the day.

Have a great Monday and I'll see ya soon!!