Thursday, December 20, 2012

Comfort food...

We love to eat at our house. Most celebrations center around food. We spend weeks planning our get togethers because of the food prep. My husband also does not like "diet" food or anything healthy for that matter. Me, I prefer not to eat it, but am learning I need to for energy and my health. I've mastered a couple of new recipes lately I'd like to share.

First, the balsamic chicken with veggies.


I saw the marinade on Pinterest, which is really nothing more than a bottle of balsamic dressing. I put chicken breasts in the dressing and marinaded overnight in the refrigerator. It smelled delicious once I was ready to put it in a 9x13 casserole dish. I then cut up potatoes, tomatoes and green beans to add to the mixture. I placed all of the ingredients in the dish and poured more of the marinade over the veggies. I baked for half an hour with foil on top at 350 degrees then took it off for another half an hour at 400 degrees. Delish!!!

To balance my Christmas party for Mary Kay the night before, last night I made a Pizza Casserole. I also have seen a crockpot version of this on Pinterest. I failed to cook up the Italian sausage the night before so I made it in the oven instead. Now, you can totally make this much healthier without the sausage, but it's a personal taste preference. The ingredients I used, otherwise, were all very healthy. I used whole wheat Barilla Cellentani pasta, homemade pasta sauce, two cans of low-sodium tomato sauce, turkey pepperoni and reduced fat Italian shredded cheese. 


I put the uncooked pasta in the 9x13 cassrole dish, layered the Italian sausage over the pasta and put the pasta sauce and tomato sauces on top of that. I added 1.5 cups of water to the mixture to make sure the pasta would cook. I then layered about 25 pepperonis on top in rows then placed the shredded cheese in between that. I didn't go overboard on the pepperoni or cheese to make it a bit more healthy yet tasty. I seasoned the top with Italian seasonings and garlic powder. I baked the dish at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. Boy, did the house smell delicious! And it was delicious! 


Hope you can enjoy either of these and know they aren't going to break your diet yet they both fill you up!

*~* Do you have any healthy recipes to share? Please share them by emailing me at melissa.leander@gmail.com*~*

It's Snowing...

It is a HUGE blessing for us in the Midwest to have gotten some rain and snow in the last 24 hours. For that I am thankful. Yet, it is scary to have to drive in it nonetheless. I have a pretty rockstar husband who now works in St. Joseph like me so he took me to work before he went to his work. Love him to pieces.

I'm saying a few extra prayers for those who have to travel and our farmers and ranchers who are working hard to protect their animals in this kind of weather.

Photo courtesy of The Missouri Beef Council
Next time, I'll just stay at home with a warm fire and two cozy little fur babies at my side!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Christmas Cookie Swap...

 I checked off another thing from my 101 list this past weekend. My sorority sisters, Pat and Kelsey, and I got together for a little Christmas Cookie Bake/Exchange. It was so much fun checking out Pat's new home, spending time baking, talking, eating, and reminiscing. I hope we do this every year!

P.S. My friends, coworkers and family have loved the cookies, girls! Yum!!

Pat's glass sugar cookies on the left and us girls on the right
Kelsey taking off her sugar kiss cookies to the wire rack. 
Kelsey's delicious toffee

Friday, December 14, 2012

Cut It Out...

While thinking about more of my 2013 fitness/wellness goals and reading more into eating right, I have made it a goal to cut out pop, for good. Call it what you want, soda, pop, Coke, whatever, but I feel it's going to eventually kill my teeth and other things in my body.



Pop has been on my "need" list each day since I have been in high school. There are periods where I drink very little during the day (half a can) to a full out Route 44 from Sonic. I know it's wrecking havoc on my body, not to mention the long-term effects of drinking this stuff for more than 10 years now. I don't drink regular pop, and I never have. Yet, the scary stuff that is in diet pop has finally made me scared enough to think of what I am doing to my body. I guess I care enough now to really want to cut it out.

Hold me accountable and ask how I'm doing.

Here's to better health in 2013!

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Clean Eating 101...

I love finding success stories of people who have battled weight and then lost it, BIG TIME. Megan is one of those chicks who is a bonafide rock star for her weight loss journey. She continues to get stronger, and I love reading her blog. I am inspired to keep going on this health and wellness journey like her.

Megan from Miss Madison's Charmed Life blog
In her latest blog post, she wrote down her clean-eating list. I am consciously setting this as a goal in 2013 to get rid of the crap and get down to business of losing body fat. Two years ago when I started running, I quit buying all processed, frozen meals for dinners, which was a big step in the right direction. I am now working on lunches (ahem, the infamous Lean Cuisine and canned soups).

I menu-plan for a whole month at a time for dinner, which has made life so much easier and provides a real savings in our budget. I wouldn't be able to put some variety in there without Pinterest, though.

I would love to start incorporating some of Megan's tips from her list in my menu planning and lunches. With that said, I am not a fan of organic/natural foods, for the most part. There is a lot of hype surrounding it, and I know how hard our farmers work to produce our food that do not fall in either category. I am just fine with eating things on this list that are "normal". I am happy to say we LOVE using lean cuts of beef and deer burger for most of our recipes. Those are lean sources of protein so I'm good with those, too. I also would have a very hard time letting go of my milk. I use it in my protein shakes, and it is an excellent balance of good carbs/vitamins/protein after a workout and for breakfast. Other than that, I am working on buying more from the list.

Here is a sample of her list:


Oils
  • sunflower oil
  • coconut oil
  • walnut oil
  •  avocado oil
  •  olive oil
  •  grape seed oil 
  •  pumpkin seed oil
Fatty Proteins
  • avocado
  • coconut
  • nuts
  • nut meal/flour 
  • seeds 
  • all natural peanut butter 
  • salmon 
  • bluefish
  • trout
  • mussels
Lean proteins
  • most types of fish
  • egg whites
  • chicken breast
  • extra lean ground turkey
  • top round
  • turkey
  • pork chops
  • game meat
  • bison
  • tofu
  • shellfish
  • scallops 
Sweeteners
  • sugar free maple syrup use sparingly
  • coconut sugar
  • applesauce (no sugar added) 
  • birch sugar Ideal(xylitol)
  • Stevia in the Raw or Truvia
Dairy
  • Unsweetened almond Milk
  • Unsweetened rice milk
  • Greek Yogurt
  • Cottage Cheese 
Condiments
  • Sauerkraut
  • Kim Chee
  • Tempeh
  • Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Balsamic or Raspberry Vinaigrette
  • Red Wine Vinegar
  • White Vinegar
  • Rice Vinegar
  • Ketchup Heinz Reduced Sugar or Wholefoods Organic
  • Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce
  • Reduced sodium Teriyaki sauce
  • Salsa 
  • Hot sauce 
  • Steak sauce (low sugar)
  • Chili Paste
  • Herb Pastes  ginger, garlic, cilantro, etc
  • Tomato paste
  • Tomato sauce 
  • Mustard Yellow or dijon
  • Broth Low sodium fat free beef, vegetable, and chicken
  • Worcestershire Sauce  no high fructose corn syrup
  • Fat free cooking spray 
Carbs/Starches
  • barley
  • corn tortilla (Food for Life brand is best)
  • Cream of Wheat/Rice or Rye
  • Ezekial bread (made by Food for Life)
  • lentils
  • oats
  • whole wheat pasta
  • potato (white, only occasionally)
  • brown rice
  • rice cakes
  • Sweet Potato
  • Pinto
  • Chickpea
  • Kidney
  • White Beans
  • Black Beans
  • Quinoa
  • Couscous
Misc
*coffee, teas, all flours except white, spices, fruits and veggies.

Pretty big list, huh?!

*~*Anyone out there have other ideas for clean eating ingredients?*~*

Thursday, December 6, 2012

2012 Christmas Wish List...

This is a random post, but it's fun, so here it goes...

I've created my 2012 Christmas Wish List items (you might notice a theme here):
A Garmin Forerunner 10 watch. It's not the fanciest Garmin, but it does the job of
showing me I am putting in the miles and improving my times.
http://www.amazon.com/Garmin-Forerunner-Watch-Pink-White/dp/B0090C7A5C
Look at this beauty! How many of you already have one?
I'd love a Keurig not because I drink coffee (maybe I'll start?) but for the variety of teas! Yum!
You can never go wrong with a Dick's gift card! So many things I could buy with this like
a new running hat, socks, shorts, shirt, pants, jacket, chews, gels, running belt, all of those things I NEED (er want!).
Oh this would be the ultimate! I want an iPad so bad, but I don't want to pay for it myself!
A plane ticket to Florida for this spring. I really want to run a half in February and visit my friend, Katelyn. 

Santa, I really think I've been good this year, so any of these things would be AWESOME to get. But, I'll be happy with anything.

~*~ What is on your holiday wish list? Are you a practical or fun gift lover?~*~

Friday, November 30, 2012

That's Where I Come From...

"Well I'm from a map dot

A stop sign on a black top,"



In the words of Tim McGraw, that's us in Dearborn, Mo. Most people have no idea where we live. Even those in St. Joseph, which is 20 miles up the road, have never heard of Dearborn. We often have to say, "you know the town between here and Platte City on 29?" Dearborn is a town of 496. If you've been to the Trex Mart gas station along Interstate 29, you still haven't seen the town. You have to drive a mile to the northeast to actually go into town. We have no stop light, no grocery store, no retail stores, yet we have a cafe, post office, and yes, a stop sign. We have little to no notoriety for much of anything. 

That changed a little yesterday with the announcement of the Hill family winning the largest lottery jackpot in Missouri history and second largest in the United States. All day there was speculation of who it was, maybe it was a passer-by like is most common in our only convenience store along the interstate. Yet, when we heard from local townspeople who they thought it was, we all got a little more excited. 

I don't personally know them, but Mark Hill graduated with my mother-in-law, and I've been told they are an incredibly good, wholesome family that deserves it. I hope they use it to take care of their family, save some, and do good with the rest. 

Yes, you might say, those of us in Dearborn have a little civic pride for being put on the map, finally. 

As a friend put it, "Dearborn has been Googled more today than in the last fifty years." 

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Little Changes...

I made a few changes to my blog like I said I was going to do for my 101 list.

I have finally added a few pages about me and my fitness goals/journey so far. Check them out above and let me know what you think!



Monday, November 19, 2012

Christmas Photos 2012

Hey Ya'll...it's been a few weeks. I haven't had much to say lately.

I was able to cross one more thing off the 101 list, though. We had our holiday pictures taken by the ever-so-creative and fun Laura Benitz. Laura was our photographer for our wedding. She does an incredible job, and I can't wait to show everyone our actual Christmas Card.

For now, enjoy a short or two and the link to her website post of our pictures.

Photo Courtesy of Laura Benitz Photography

Photo Courtesy of Laura Benitz Photography

Friday, November 2, 2012

Those Bucket List Items...


to 

I don't really have an actual, written bucket list. Just things in my head I'd like to do in my lifetime.

One of those recent items is completing a full marathon. To begin the story, let me paint the picture for you when I was younger. 

I was THE slowest kid in our class when we first had to complete the 1-mile run in elementary school. I have no idea what my time was, but I remember vividly being the slowest. I don't mean to be incredibly mean, but I was by no means an overweight child; I was average. So it stung a little when I wasn't even as fast as those who weighed a lot more than me.

I went out for every sport in middle school just because that's what you do in a small town. I played volleyball, basketball, and ran/threw in track. I, again, was not very fast or good, but I slowly improved. We still had to do that presidential fitness test I loathed every year. By the end of 8th grade, I was usually about the 4th or 5th girl to finish in the 1-mile run. I placed the same in the 1-mile run in track meets too.

In high school, I didn't run my freshman year in track. I decided to go out for track in my sophomore and junior years. I tried running, but quickly realized I am by no means a "sprint" runner, but I also wasn't fast enough to really be competitive in the long distances. I threw javelin, discus and did long jump instead. We still had to "run" some during practice, but nothing too intense. I also knew I needed to stay healthy since I wasn't really in sports sophomore, junior and seniors years other than cheerleading and swimming. I took the weightlifting class. It was awesome to see myself improve in strength. Though I would question the approach of our teachers. It was always to lift more. Now that I know a few more things about weight training, I know that is not always the smart approach to fitness. I digress...we ran for 15 minutes every other day and then did core work, then weights. Great workout for an hour and a half, really! We still had our fitness tests. You had to run 2 miles in 15 minutes. I did that several times so I was proud of that. I came a long way since being the slowest girl in my class.

In college, I didn't really do much exercise during school. I walked, of course, everywhere so that was a lot of my workout. During the summers, I ran, rode my bike and walked a lot, too. The summer of my sophomore year I got serious about losing weight and making better choices. I ran almost every day and lost 45 lbs.

The story of today. My exercise habits have ebbed and flowed from the age of 19-24. There are months where I really get into it, and long periods I do nothing. When I became engaged, I knew I wanted to look my best so I began running. My sister-in-law coaxed me into the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. It was hard....seriously. Looking back, I laugh at how easy the out and back, flat, 3-mile course is, but it was hard my first time. I didn't follow the training plan like I should have. It was also 16 degrees that day.

A lot has changed in 2 years (it'll be 2 years ago I ran my first 5k on Thanksgiving). I have since completed 20 or so 5Ks, two 10Ks, and two half marathons. I know to remain healthy and be the healthiest I can be before pregnancy, I have to run. I don't really enjoy it until I see the results or the feeling of completing the long run I have never done before or beating a time. But, I know it's good for me. So what's the next goal? Complete the 2013 OKC full marathon! Not sure what I'm really getting myself into, but I look back and think if you would have asked me two years ago if I ever thought of running 13.1 miles, I would have said, you're crazy. Now I am just fully crazy instead of half crazy, so cheers to 25 weeks of training!

More to come later on training and why the OKC race.

*~*What is on your bucket list? Have you done something you never thought you'd do? Please share in the comments!*~*

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

My fall love...

I've found two new loves this October while reading blogs and following new things on Facebook. I'd like to consider myself a lover of media, especially social. I find some of the coolest things because of being "plugged in". Check these out:

First up, A Tad Monroe. What an awesome concept...they post items on their Facebook page for auction bid, and those who comment first, win, and pay the specified price. Nothing is too expensive, and totally adorable!

Here is how you purchase items for their auctions.
A few of the items up for grabs last night!
Next up, Three Bird Nest. Gorgeous accessories that are so girly. Because of following them on Facebook,
I scored some awesome things at 50% off this week on their Etsy site and website. I love supporting small businesses too. Seems very retro and vintage...
/collections/all
An example of the cute headbands from Three Bird Nest.
*~*What are some of your unique boutique shops you like? Please share them in the comments.*~*

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Another one bites the dust...

I finished another half marathon this past Sunday with the help of my sorority sister, Danielle. You may recall this post where I announced I was running another half. I'm glad Danielle pushed me to do another. Now that I have two under my belt, I hope to run two a year as a challenge to stay in good shape.

Now onto to the race...

I was nervous it was going to rain the entire time since Saturday was a soppy, wet mess here in Missouri and pretty much the entire drive to Wichita. I honestly probably would not have ran on Sunday if it were raining. I know, I know...I put all that work into training for months, yet the thought of ruining my feet and getting sick were not exactly pushing me to really want to run 13 miles in the rain.

We picked up our packets, did the prerace meal (DELICIOUS! thanks to Danielle's mad cooking skills), and visited some amazing boutique shops! We even saw another Theta sister, Mandy, at Frou Frou. I was so surprised to see her since I haven't for such a long time and she just got home from studying in London and Madagascar!

Danielle and I captured all smiles during the race!
It was gorgeous though for race day. Cooler weather, thankfully. We had our ritual pancakes and eggs for breakfast and my green tea for energy. I wore my Team Beef jersey for a little shout out. They gave us awesome cowbells. We lined up for the race, and we were off. Danielle's mom and mother-in-law were at almost every two miles cheering us on. So sweet of them!

We passed some great landmarks in Wichita, including the food bank, cool restaurants, hospital, old homes, and lots and lots of fans/dogs cheering us on.

It was a great race, and one I would definitely recommend to anyone who is new to distance running. It was flat and fast. We finished in 2:24, which is 2:30 minutes faster than my first half time. I am proud of that. Decreasing your time by that much on any lengthy race is hard to do. I hope I can keep improving my time and move on to more challenging courses in the future.

Cheers to us for another one down!

Our finish line pic with our awesome medals!

Thursday, October 4, 2012

101 update Part 1

101 Update:

2. I've read a few more books, which I'm really happy about! I love having my Kindle Fire and it makes reading so much easier when I want to stay up to not have the light on bothering my husband. There may have been a few nights turn into days where I've needed extra caffeine because I couldn't put down my book. So add 2 more to the list!

8. I moved Tigger, my horse, about two months ago to a new home about 20 miles north of our house. I'll be honest, it is terribly hard to convince myself to ride him so far away. I feel TERRIBLE, seriously. I have no excuses, but I make plenty of excuses. I'm sure he doesn't mind since he doesn't have to work. I did ride him though a few times at his new home which has a nice arena and trails. I hope the weather stays nice and I can focus more on him after my half marathon next week.

14. We're getting our pictures taken by Laura Benitz on the 23rd of October and I'm super excited!

17. We're working on attending church more. Again, no excuses other than making excuses to not go. I hope we can go this weekend.

18. I'm sad the Ag Backers program from K-State's College of Agriculture is no longer around. I want to remain involved in promoting K-State, most importantly, agriculture! I hope to attend this on November 8th!


I'll stop there for now! I have a few more updates, but I don't want to get too lengthy!!

Monday, October 1, 2012

So much to update...too little time

Story of my life!! I'm going to give ya'll a run down of the last month instead of creating tons of blog posts. I tend to write too much anyway. Here it goes:

1. I started a new J-O-B on September 4th. That's probably the biggest news! I'm back at Second Harvest Community Food Bank. I love it! I work to get food into our food bank, and that's my job to work with producers, food manufacturers and the like to increase our food donations! Fun times. Check out my legit page above!

Photo courtesy: Second Harvest Community Food Bank
Pictured above are the great folks from Apple Market in St. Joseph. They donated 28,000 lbs.
of food for our corporate food drive challenge, Food Fight in September. 
2. We have slowly been finishing projects around the house. We are putting a roof on half the deck. We are waiting on the spindles to come in for the rest of the deck railing. I am painting our entire bathroom at the moment a great purple color. Next is new lighting and a new medicine cabinet/mirror and vanity.

3. I've been super busy with Mary Kay! Great problem, right? I had a $1,000 day in September. Holla, to being that much closer to Queen's Court of Sales! I also was crowned the Queen of the Star Consultants at our last quarterly event and picked out a free black patent leather bag for my prize.

4. Todd got a new truck. Spoiled...but it's a pretty one. It's a 2012 white Chevy Silverado with everything on it.

5. I'm almost finished with training for my second half marathon. This weekend was 9 miles, and it's only two weeks to go until race day!

6. I'm trying to figure out some health issues I've been having lately with my upper GI tract. Prayers please for some relief and comfort.

7. Lots of exciting news happening lately with new baby announcements. We'll have a busy spring, no doubt!

Group of us friends at the Eric Church concert. Rocked my world!!
That is all! I'll also post this week an update to my 101 list!

Until next time...

Thursday, August 30, 2012

To be a Southern Girl...






Ever since our trip to the South for vacation, I have been ooohh'ing and ahhhh'ing over all things monogrammed. I was explained that proper etiquette for your name once you are a Southern married woman is to take your maiden name as your middle name. Who knew?! Needless to say, I've been putting my monogrammed things as MCM not MCL. I did not change my middle name when I got married, and I'm not sure I would. My middle name means quite a deal to me, too. Marie is my given middle name and it has been the Christian name for every lady in my lineage for seven generations. That's a big deal! I have a beautiful gold necklace from my great grandmother with a beautiful "M" monogram for that very reason.


But with all that said, some days it's just fun to get lost in all the monogram craze that my friends have sucked me into! Like these:

Door Initial Monogram Shabby chic style You choose color and letter 

Black Monogrammed Penny Cross Body Clutch Bag





Thursday, August 9, 2012

Party in slow motion...Motorboatin'

Well I have been in a slight vacation mode ever since the 1st of July. There are numerous blog posts I should have been writing in the month and a week I have failed to make a post. Oh well...

Back to reality of not traveling finally this week, and I'm going to make time to make a few posts about the last month or so.

For our birthdays, Todd's in June and mine in July, we treated ourselves to a little vacation to Mexico Beach, Florida, to spend time with one of my best girlfriends, Katelyn, and her family. We did go there on our honeymoon, so it was awesome to go back to places we already knew pretty well. Todd was talking about oysters and fish for weeks leading up to our trip.

Here is a little recap:

We flew into Panama City and Katelyn picked us up. We arrived in a downpour of rain. Not exactly the kind of Florida sunshine welcome I wanted. We drove the hour to Mexico Beach and settled into the beach house where we met Kyle, Katelyn's husband, her dad and mom, Mark and Janora, and sister and cousin, Abigail and Morgan. Kyle took us to the marina to get our fishing licenses and we went to the fishing shop to get some gear. I knew I HAD to fit the part of a legit Florida fisherwoman so I got my Columbia fishing shirt in purple, of course. That night we had red snapper the gang caught the day before on the Gulf and grits. Mmm boy...good Southern food!

The next day was our day on the water. I ran 3 miles that morning on the beach and it was gorgeous!


We then got ready to head out on the boat. Mark, Katelyn, Abigail, Morgan, Todd and I all went. Now, I was not fully prepared for the fashion that I should have brought with me to go on this trip. The girls were dressed to the nines in their amazing jewelry, cover ups, hats, and shoes. It is also a must that everything be monogrammed. Not that I would disagree with all of that, but being from Missouri, we definitely have a different way of fashion. We also listened to the best tunes, hence the name of this post. Here are a few pics from being on the Gulf.

Todd in his element. He loved fishing for even the bait fish.

Our catch for the day, king mackerel
The next day was rainy so Todd stayed with Mark on the canal all day and bs'ed and drank beer. His kind of day! Us girls did a little shopping in Mexico Beach and Port St. Joe. There are only a few shops, but they are great. One of my favorite is Persnickety. I was introduced to Lilly Pulitzer, oh my...fun fun and girly! We then ate at my favorite Mexican restaurant of all time, Pepper's. I had the fish tacos. Yum!

We then went to the beach that day to layout and try our hats that Katelyn got us. Yes, they are monogrammed!

That evening we went out with the entire gang, around 40 of us, to Boondocks. It is the restaurant at the resort we stayed at for our honeymoon. It is a tradition of all the families that go to have at least one dressy dinner together.

All of us "young" gals on the trip. 
On Friday, it was rainy again so we hung out most of the day at the beach house and tried to go out on the boat one more time. We didn't catch anything this time. The water was incredibly choppy. Thankfully, none of us lost our lunch!


We left on Saturday morning to head back to Missouri. I was so sad to leave as I hardly get to see Katelyn on a yearly basis, but I know we have such an amazing friendship that started back in college. I love her to pieces, and hope that we can make a trip to Florida every year to spend time together. The best part of our trip was the great conversations and getting to know the Crow family even better. Such amazing Southern hospitality!

Friday, June 29, 2012

Here I Go Again...

Dun Dun Dun...que music, please....

Just kidding! I did commit a couple of weeks ago to my friend and old college roommate, Danielle, to run the Prairie Fire Half Marathon in Wichita in October. So we've been swapping ideas and tips on how to train in this ungodly heat. I officially start training on July 1st since I have a couple of weeks of vacation that I am not sure how much running I'll get in since I'll be in Hades Dallas and Inferno  Florida in July.

I am like a little girl on Christmas waiting for my new present for my feet since it is payday today, and I desperately need a new pair of running shoes. I got these:
Photo courtesy of: Asics.com
These new pups are rated as Editor's Choice from the Summer 2012 Runner's World Shoe Review Guide.
~~Are you all doing anything to stay in shape during this extreme heat? If so, what are you doing?~~

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Garden Delicious...

We are starting to get a few goodies from our garden despite the lack of rain we've gotten this summer. Todd loves his meat and I love simple and healthy meals so we made beef kabobs last night for dinner. We used 100 percent of the ingredients from items we grew, including the beef and veggies. Todd mentioned it was fun to make dinner together, which I would agree, especially when I can get him to agree to a healthy meal.

We loaded up the skewers with sirloin steak that Todd seasoned with spices, green tomato, zucchini, jalapenos, green pepper and onion. The only thing that would have been better is some red onion and red pepper, but we don't have those things yet.



And for good measure, here is a photo of our wildflowers growing on
the atrocious mound that is our cellar. It is usually full of weeds so
I'm enjoying a pleasant view this summer instead. 
~~What is your favorite summertime recipe? Please share it by sending an e-mail to melissa.leander@gmail.com!~~

Time to Celebrate...

Summer is my favorite time of year (and fall too). I don't like 100+ degree days, but really who does? However, I LOVE 80-95 degree days, and we've had our fair share of them lately. I love the heat to make you feel like you're working hard while working out or in the garden. I also have been a water baby since I can remember so I love swimming, lakes, rivers, fishing, anything with water.

We spent last weekend celebrating Todd's 30th birthday on our annual float trip to the Niangua River in the Ozarks of Missouri. We stay in Todd's parents' camper at Bennett Springs State Park and float with the NRO company. I think Todd's family has gone a float trip every year for 20+ years so they get really excited about it. We have to  have the perfect snacks, drinks, water toys, tunes and suit.

Here are a few pictures from our float trip:

Todd's beer cake that I got the idea from here
Some of the guys taking it easy in the river. Tony is pointing  to me to not take photos!
Todd and my catch from one day of fishing trout. We both caught
our daily limit in about 20 minutes!
Todd's mom, Jeff, and Laura enjoying a stop on the river. 
Showing off our fishing catch!
It was crazy packed on the river! Definitely an experience if you have
never been on a float trip!
Tony and Regina on another stop to enjoy drinks while on the river.
~~Do you all go on any fun trips with your family during the summer? If so, what do you do or where do you go?~~ 

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Oh, What to Say...

So it's been 10 days since my last post and I'm feeling guilty about it. I'll share a few photos from the past couple of weeks so I won't feel so guilty anymore.


You can bet that when you go to a Mary Kay event, you'll feel
like a million dollars when you leave. I am so thankful for
this opportunity to be around positive women. I earned the Queen
of Star Consultants last night as an Emerald Star. 
A quick shot while on the Might Mo' while setting bait
for catfish a couple weeks ago. You know it's summer
in Missouri and you have a bit of country in your blood
when you are anxious about getting the largest catfish. 
Miss Tillie enjoying our new carpet one lazy afternoon. 
Brandi, me, and Christi all taking a photo after the
Wathena UMC 5K in June. It was a great run where I PR'ed with 31 minutes.