21lbs and chicken satay

Okay, I'm just gonna say it, I need to loose 21lbs. Whew! Now I feel much better that that is off my shoulders! I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate not following through on something I start, it kills me to the core. If I say I'm going to do something I'm going to do it, period. I can't stand any sort of flakiness so, in an effort to hold myself accountable I'm saying to the world wide web, the time is now. For petesake, its 21lbs, and I treat it like its 120lbs! I really need to show some discipline and just get-er-done. So, I'm going to start being intentional, not sure how long this will last but I hope I can make it last for 21lbs. I like to cook, I enjoy having a plan and going to the grocery store with my list and making yummy food. When I started this new year one of my "goals" was to make a new meal each week, I thought this would be so hard, its not. I've actually found so much freedom in being intentional, cooking good food, and trying new things that I'm actually excited to eat! I think the reason dinner has been somewhat of a drag for me for so long is b/c I was making food that really didn't interest me but that was easy, tasted okay, and my family liked. Now that I am making things that are actually super tasty and I have a plan and actually have the ingredients when dinner rolls around, it has changed my whole outlook on life (okay, maybe not on life but on dinner for sure!). :) So, all this to say, I need to start being intentional about making things that will help me stick to my 21lbs goal. I need to cut back on the bread (I loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooove bread) and be better about nixing dessert. Sad!!! This week while I was meal planning I kept low carb, delicious recipes as the goal and I'm excited to try some new things! I came across this chicken satay recipe, I LOVE Thai food and this sounds delish! I'll let you know how it goes! Here's to loosing 21lbs and eating great food! xo


(photo from website where recipe can be found, link above)
(P.S. I have Ina Garten's roasted tomatoes in the oven as I type, I'm going to make caprese salad, hope they turn out!)

this senior...

is being blogged over here today!

B on Easter morning 2011

Yesterday was AWFUL, so awful I don't even want to write about it here. Thank you to those of you who prayed, emailed, sent us love, etc.. it was appreciated. Unfortunately B isn't any better (or worse thank goodness) so our road with this isn't over. :( I don't have any more info just yet but that's what I do know. Now, onto something much more cheery...


Here are some pics I took of B on Easter morning. Just envision me outside in my pj's snapping for 4 minutes while Adam is standing behind me trying to make B laugh, isn't that a lovely visual? :)

it's that time...again.

For those of you who have been following my blog for a while, you'll remember last year when I posted about B needing to have an invasive test done. Well, its been a year of daily medication and now its time for the follow up test. Boo! So, this morning, back to the hospital we go for the same procedure as last year. I would appreciate your prayers for my girl today, that it would be fast, and not painful, that she wouldn't be scared, that all the reflux will be gone, and that we'll never have to do this test again! Since this is our second time going through it we have a better idea of what to expect but that doesn't make it much easier. B doesn't remember last year, they gave her drugs that made her forget so I can't say "remember last year and how its over really fast, etc.." I know its frightening and even going to the hospital can be scary so, please be thinking of her and praying for her today. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. xo


silly photo of B via blue lily

Easter egg hunting

I was telling Adam that I feel a little guilty that I didn't "do" anything special for B this year for Easter, but here's why. Brennan did an Easter egg hunt with our church, she did a hunt at school, and grandma mailed her an Easter basket. This girl has candy coming out of her ears and has been quite spoiled so, needless to say, Adam and I just decided to let it be. :) Here are a few pics from our chuch egg hunt, more pics to come! xo

(B has been over accessorising lately, I keep trying to tell her "less is more" but the rings, necklaces, bracelets, hair pretties, etc... keep coming out!)

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone! Christ is risen!!!

Creed by Rich Mullins:

I believe in God the Father almighty
Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ
His only begotten Son, our Lord
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
Born of the virgin Mary
Suffered under Pontius Pilate
He was crucified and dead and buried

CHORUS:
And I believe what I believe
Is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not
The invention of any man

I believe that He who suffered
Was crucified, buried, and dead
He descended into hell and
On the third day, rose again
He ascended into Heaven where
He sits at God's mighty right hand
I believe that He's returning to
Judge the quick and the dead
Of the sons of men

I believe it, I believe it
I believe it
I believe it, I believe it

I believe in God the Father almighty
Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son,
Our Lord
I believe in the Holy Spirit
One Holy Church, the communion of Saints
The forgiveness of sin
I believe in the resurrection
I believe in a life that never ends

(itallics mine)

completed photo project!

A project in the Winn household that is finally done!! Every time I turn the corner to go up the stairs and I see this wall, my heart smiles. I l.o.v.e. how it turned out!! And I LOVE that I can finally check something off of my to-do list!! (Each photo was taken in a place that we have lived, one is from Ireland, 2 are from California, 2 are from Texas, and 1 is from Oregon). I hope you all have a lovely weekend, I'm rushing out the door right now to help a friend fill Easter eggs for our church Easter egg hunt tomorrow, fun! Love and hugs from Waco! xo




*all photos either taken by me or kellyry.com*

yesterday's dinner menu

Last night I had some girlfriends over for dinner. What I thought would be a relatively easy menu turned out to be me spending the whole day in the kitchen. I was right in that by themselves the dishes weren't too hard and/or time consuming but when I factored them all together...that was another story. It's okay, I had a good time cooking and every bit got gobbled up so it was worth it. :)

Here's what I made (and most of these items I made for the first time yesterday):

*Baked brie with brown sugar topping and crackers (I've made this for years, sorry, I don't have a link to the recipe, its all in my head. If you want the recipe, shoot me an email)

*Mango/avocado bruschetta

*Carrot and cilantro soup

*Mixed greens with berries and almonds

*Flourless chocolate cake with fresh whipping cream.

12 years ago today...

Adam and I had our very first conversation, ahhhh. :)

So I'm bound and determined to finish my hallway photo project to.day. Hopefully I can have some pictures to share this week.

We had mi casa last night and I am trying to make it to the end of the semester without repeating a recipe. Last night I tried a new recipe, but really, its so simple I'm sure most folks know how to make it. I made taco soup, easy, tasty, and we had just enough to feed everyone. Its essentially just like making tacos only you add beef stock and lots of tomatoes and onions to the beef. For dessert I busted out the snow cone machine my mom bought me last year (thanks mom!) and it is sooo cool! I can't believe I haven't used it yet! Dump in some ice, push a button, put on some flavoring, instant happiness! (we may just start eating snow cones every day in the Winn household, after all summer has officially come to Waco!).

I haven't taken any photos lately! Shame on me! I did snap this photo yesterday of the painted armoire. Again, its not exactly how I wanted it but a project to finish for another day.


Okay all, hope you have a lovely Thursday! xo

mi casa olympics

Kemi left yesterday morning and it has been a whirlwind since she arrived! B had so much fun w/ grandma, and one day while B was in school, grandma and I escaped to Dallas for the day to do some shopping! It was a very fun visit and as always, went sooo fast. On the last full day Kemi was here our church had "mi casa olympics." I messed up on the t-shirt order and ended up having an extra shirt so there was one for Kemi! Kind of a serendipitous mistake! It was hilarious, we had to make up a rap, balance dice on a tongue compressor, 2 people had to run a mile!, sack races, frisbee toss, tortilla toss, slack line walk, trivia, etc.. Needless to say, it was 5 hours of go go go and I have a lovely sunburn to show for it!

I didn't bring my camera, just chose to be "in it" and not think about photos. Several people did bring their cameras however and here is a pic of B wearing her mi casa shirt (she insisted hers be pink even though every one else wore gray) and her unicorn horn! Of course we had to have Brennan's "unicorn being swallowed by a dog" quote on the shirts (and I'm not being biased here, our shirts were the best ones!). All in all a fun and exhausting day. Man alive I love these guys, can't believe we only get them for a couple more weeks before school is out!! WHAAAAA!!!


The shirts say "Winn Mi Casa It's like a unicorn being swallowed by a dog" and you can see the unicorn in the dogs mouth if you look close. :)






you can see the shirts better in this one, we were lame and didn't get a big group photo -boo.

this beauty...

is being blogged over here today! Happy Friday, all! xo

food and pics

In keeping with my new years goal of trying a new recipe each week, last week I made these yummy taquitos and I made this vegetarian pasta for meatless Monday. I would highly recommend both! YUMMY! If you want to see more of this cute senior, head on over here. Happy Wednesday! xo

grandma is coming!

Brennan's grandma flies into Waco tonight, who hoo! We're not telling her she is coming, I mean, she knows she's coming soon she just doesn't realize she's coming tonight. Kemi's flight gets in after B is asleep and B has school tomorrow so we figured we'd surprise B and have grandma pick her up from school! I can't wait to see the look on her face! (we figured B wouldn't be too excited to go to school if she knew grandma was here so we're hoping to hide her in the guestroom until after B is out the door. With the 2 hour time change we're hoping it won't be too hard for Kemi to sleep in). :) Things around the house are coming together slowly but surely! Adam and I caved and came to our senses and hired someone to help us with the yard. I can honestly say it was one of the smartest things I've.ever.done. Our yard still has a long ways to go but it looks so.much.better. I'm not overwhelmed when I look out my kitchen window into the back yard, and it looks much more spacious back there now too! The armoire in my room got painted, it still needs some more work but I'm putting that off for another day (or month...or so). Even though its not my exact "vision" it does make the space look so much lighter and the room is generally just more airy which I love. Hooray for white!! The photo project in the hallway is coming together and I LOOOOOVVVVEEEE it. I think its going to be my new favorite space in the house. :) It's not quite finished yet b/c I'm waiting for a few more pieces to arrive but so far, its just what I had in mind. When its 100% done I will of course take a photo and share it here. I love when things start to fall into place, especially when they are things that have been in the works for a while. If posting is slow this week its because I'm out and about having fun with my mother-in-law. I do have a couple more sessions to share so will try and get those posted in the next week or so. For now, here is a sneak peek at a senior, more to come!

color or black and white?

I can't decide which I like best, thoughts? To see more of this senior's pics, head on over here.

freaking hilarious!

Several weeks ago I mentioned how the kids put on the service at church. The whole service was centered around the story of Jonah and the whale. They did a video asking the kids what it would be like to sit in the belly of a whale for 3 days and Brennan's response was "its like a unicorn being swallowed by a dog." Clearly everyone thought this was hilarious and people are still bringing it up. Well, imagine my surprise when I look in the bulletin at church last Sunday and this is what I see: B is famous!!

Tuesday nights around here

I snapped some photos as mi casa was starting last night. Several folks hadn't arrived yet and some were missing so this is just a sampling of what the Winn household looks like on Tuesday nights. Man, I'm gonna miss these guys when school gets out next month. Sniff. xo P.S. I'm still have SERIOUS formatting issues with blogger, is ANY ONE ELSE having these problems?!! They are making me so insane, not sure I can still blog here if something doesn't change! ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. HELP!!

this poor blog

I feel like this poor blog has been getting the shaft lately! I feel like I've been busy but am not sure what I've been doing exactly (I'm not the only one who feels like this right?). I've been working on several projects so that is pretty exciting. The first big deal around here is getting the window treatments ordered for the tippy top (I know, super exciting). The tippy top has several windows that have a unique/custom shape to them so solving this problem has not been easy. Plans are still in the works but I love that I can actually say, in the works, not just an idea floating around in my head. I'm sure my neighbors will appreciate the fact that I will no longer be flashing them and it should definitely help with the sun/heat situation up there (speaking of heat, of course the a/c up there isn't working properly...again). Another project that is underway is the pine armoire in my room is getting a much needed makeover. A gal in our mi casa is an art major and has taken that project on...I'm eager to see it when its all done. I don't have high expectations b/c I don't love the piece but hope it looks better than it did at least! I'm also finally tackling a photo project that I've been toying with for months now. I'm hoping to have it done some time next week..stay tuned! This weekend my friend Melissa and I drove 3 hours south-ish to Round Top, Texas for the antique show. It was a fun day with her but I didn't come home with a "find." (although I could have and debated it for a loooooooooooooooooooooong time but decided I shouldn't spend the money...but I really, really, really wanted it!!). Then we came home and I made these sandwiches. OH.MY.WORD. these were sooo good! The meat was so tender and flavorful, Adam thinks it should be a "regular" around here. I also made these blueberry cheesecake bars, I was a little disappointed in them, they weren't as sweet as I was anticipating and were a little on the bland side. So, all in all I'd say make the sandwiches, pass on the blueberry cheesecake bars. Okay, this post is getting a little too lengthly so I'll wrap it up. Sorry no fun pictures to share but I do have several sessions lined up that I'm sure I'll be eager to share with you soon!! Happy Tuesday! xo

mom duty

Yesterday felt like a day of mom duty. I woke up early to stand in line to get B into pre-school (she got in, who hoo!!), then I had to get a fax from her dr in Oregon sent down here, run over to my church (thanks guys) to sign it, have it faxed back to Oregon so they would release her medical records to her new dr down here in Texas. Its that time of year where B has to get checked up for her all her uti issues (that I'm praying we will come to find out have resolved them self). Numerous phone calls back and forth to drs offices, running around signing papers, etc. I still haven't gone to the grocery store so made dinner out of random stuff we had and hoped B would like it (minus the capers she thought it was good, just a simple pasta dish). Then last night around 2:30am B woke up with a stomach ache. As a parent that's kinda the worst (to me anyway), you can't do much for a stomach ache and I'm always paranoid I'm missing something, like, is her appendix about to rupture?! Theres a fine line between gas pain and a rupturing appendix no? Anyway, after Adam and I rotating caring for her, she finally went to the bathroom and it turns out her appendix is fine, whew! Needless to say, this morning I feel like I've been run over by a truck. Mom duty takes on many forms, yesterday it was the details, today I'm hoping for simple cuddling and playing. Happy Friday, all! xo