What's Up Wednesday!

Today I'm linking up with fellow bloggers Mel, Sheaffer and Shay to talk about what's up!

What We're Eating This Week

I made The Pioneer Woman's Spaghetti Sauce Recipe on Sunday...yum! Thankfully it made enough to stock my freezer.

What I'm Reminiscing About

Christmas Break

What I'm Loving

My early morning time and this book.

What We've Been Up To

Work, work, work and keeping up with our new year goals...

and keeping up with Miss Zoe...

What I'm Dreading

The long stretch from Valentine's Day to Spring Break.

What I'm Working On

Finishing my final project for grad school.

What I'm Excited About

Parker's 16th birthday!

What I'm Watching/Reading

The Crown

What I'm Listening To

Podcasts. Updated podcast post coming soon!

What I'm Wearing

Anything warm and cozy!

What I'm Doing This Weekend

Celebrating a 16 year-old!

What I'm Looking Forward to Next Month

Parker's birthday, the Super Bowl and Valentine's Day!

What Else Is New

I'm continuing to love working on this little blog of mine and connecting with so many people in the process. 

Bonus Question: What is your favorite soup recipe?

We love our soups around here during the winter! Our all time favorite is HERE.

Have a great day!

xo,

Deanna

What's Up Wednesday~Link Up!

It's the last Wednesday of the month, so I'm linking up with fellow bloggers Mel, Sheaffer and Shay to talk about what's up!

What We're Eating This Week

We are still eating everything we can out of our garden and from the farmer's market.  

Like these yummy Italian Zucchini Boats.  See the recipe HERE.

And my absolute favorite, a garden fresh tomato sandwich.

Isn't it so much easier to eat healthy in the summer?!

What I'm Reminiscing About

Our wedding day...5 year ago.  I blogged a bit about it HERE.

What I'm Loving

Unfortunately, I am loving EVERYTHING I bought from the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale!  I bought quite a bit thinking I would return some of it, but that didn't turn out the way I planned.  Needless to say, I have a great start on my back-to-school wardrobe. :)  Truth be told, I would have bought a few more things if they hadn't sold out!  See my favorites HERE.  

What We've Been Up To

We've been cramming in the family fun and marking off the to-do list in anticipation of the school year.  Last Sunday, we went to a trampoline park and had so much fun.  It was also a great workout!

Dan and I took a short trip for our 5 year anniversary and had the best time.  We rode bikes, napped by the pool, ate yummy food, drank champagne and shopped.  The perfect quick getaway!

What I'm Dreading

I absolutely love my job, but the start of the school year kicks my tail every year and makes me very difficult to live with. ;)  There are just not enough hours in the day to enroll new students, change schedules, and address everyone's emergencies.  Summer brain is for real and the transition back is like being thrown in a freezing cold deep end from a super comfy lounge chair.  :)

What I'm Working On

I'm busy sifting through my work email and trying to get a start on a few things before next week.  Email is the worst...can I get an AMEN?

What I'm Excited About

I actually love the start of the school year and new school supplies.  It's always fun to see the students again and hear about their summers.  I am also doing a few updates to my office, so I will share a tour with you when those are completed!

What I'm Watching/Reading

We are loving family movie nights in our recently finished basement.  We've been watching some family classics.

I have been reading everything I can get my hands on.  I'll have a new Books and Beans post on Monday, but you can see my June recommendations HERE.

What I'm Listening To

It's all about the Toddler Station on Pandora and our Vacation Bible School CD at our house right now.  There is nothing sweeter than hearing a little kid sing about God.

What I'm Wearing

This week...workout clothes.

Next week...Nordstrom deals. :)

What I'm Doing This Weekend

I plan to relax, hang out with the family and practice self-care to gear up for the start of the school year.

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month

A brand new school year.  I love working in education because we get two New Years each year, one in January and one in August.  This year will be my 20th year in education (say what?!), Dan's 12th year (he worked in insurance prior), my oldest will be a freshman in college, my middle a sophomore in high school and my little starts pre-school.  Life is busy, crazy and fun!

What Else Is New

I have been helping Mason learn his letters.  We were working on his name the other day and this is how I found it later.  Little did I know he was over it and bilingual!  No mas!

I think that about covers it!  Happy Wednesday, everyone!

What's Up Wednesday~Link Up!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  Today I'm linking up with fellow bloggers Mel, Sheaffer and Shay to talk about what's up!

What we're eating this week:

Summer is all about eating light in our house and anything we can throw on the grill.  I could eat Caprese Salad every day...

(image from www.pinterest.com)

What I'm reminiscing about:

My oldest turned 18 last week, so I've been reminiscing a lot.  I blogged about it HERE.  It was a big birthday and we had such a great celebration.

What I'm loving:

I am loving the unstructured days of summer.  It is so wonderful to have time to recharge and reconnect as a family.

What we've been up to:

We've been busy with travel baseball, high school graduation, and two birthdays.  We have also been hitting our local carnivals for yummy food and rides.  Summer is one long party in our house!

What I'm dreading:

When I was in Target the other day, I noticed that they were setting up the back-to-school supplies...before July 4th.  No Target...just no.

What I've been working on:

I've finished up my schedules for next school year, so my time has been spent working on this little blog.  I've also been busy setting up new systems at home to make life run smoother during the school year.  One of my passions is organizing, and summer is such a good time to reevaluate our household systems and fix what needs fixing to make everyday life easier.

#notmypantry

What I'm excited about:

Dan and I are going away for a very quick trip close to home for our anniversary.  We look forward to these little trips for just the two of us.  Here we are last year in Hollywood when he had the opportunity to shoot a commercial.

What I'm watching/reading:

I'm slowly making my way through Parenthood on Netflix.  It's so good, but I wish I just had time to binge watch it.  If only my family didn't get hungry three times a day. ;)

(image from www.nbc.com)

I have been reading a lot this summer.  You can read my June book review HERE.  I'm currently loving this book...

What I've been listening to:


I blogged about my favorite podcasts HERE, and I found another that I love!

The Lazy Genius Podcast 

So good!

What I've been wearing:

Summer clothes for me include a lot of shorts, t-shirts and yoga pants.  When I do return to work, I'm looking forward to wearing my new Stitch Fix clothes that I blogged about HERE.

What I'm doing this weekend:

We have a rare weekend with no baseball travel, so we will be spending a lot of time on our back deck, in our hot tub and in our newly finished movie room in our basement.  Even though I love watching my middle play ball, it will be good to have a weekend at home.

What I'm looking forward to next month:

More summer fun and our 5 year wedding anniversary.

What else is new:

That's about it.  I am looking forward to our tomatoes and cucumbers to be ready in the garden.  There is nothing better than eating from the garden!

And this month's bonus question...What is your favorite 4th of July tradition?

We love going to a minor league baseball game all decked out in red, white, and blue, of course, and staying to watch the fireworks after the game.  There's nothing more American than baseball!

If you blog too, link up and tell us what you've been up to!

What's Up Wednesday~Link Up!

I'm participating in a new link-up today with Mel, Sheaffer and Shay!

They blog monthly about random things they are up to in a series of 13 questions.  I thought it would be fun to join in and link-up.

What we're eating this week:

We ate one of our tried and true favorites this week...

BBQ Pork Tacos

What I'm reminiscing about:

New York City!  The older boys and I had such a great time a few weeks ago.  Read all about it HERE.

What I'm loving:

The weather!  It has been 70 degrees for the past few days and it is wonderful!

What we've been up to:

Because of the awesome weather, we have been playing outside and hiking in our woods.

What I'm dreading:

Hmmm...can't think of anything.

What I've been working on:

We have been busy with registration at work and have freshman orientation tomorrow night.  We are also in the middle of testing season and this is our first year with the SAT.  Lots of watching students take tests...

(image from www. pinterest.com)

What I'm excited about:

Dan, Mason and I are planning a little Spring Break trip...

(image from www.pinterest.com/Disney/)

What I'm watching/reading:

I am catching up on watching This Is Us before starting a new Netflix series.  I would love your recommendations for what to watch next!

Of course, I've been reading a ton.  See my January book list HERE and my February one will be up next week.

What I'm listening to:

I am continuing to listen to my favorite podcasts.  They have been so good!

What I'm wearing:

The weather has been so back and forth here that I need to check my weather app every morning before getting dressed.  Last week I wore one of my favorite blanket scarves from Stitch Fix.  

This week I've been shopping for new spring dresses.  I love this one, this one, and this one!

What I'm doing this weekend:

Hanging out with the fam and attending two baby showers!

What I'm looking forward to next month:

Hmmmmm...March...not much to look forward to, other than more warmer temps?

What else is new:

So much has been going on with our tribe.  We have one who started a new job and college, one who just got his driver's permit and is trying out for high school baseball next week and one who just started preschool for the first time.  Stop by the blog on Monday to read about our Life Lately. 

And this week's bonus question...

What is my "can't live without" beauty product?

There are so many to choose from, but I truly love my Cover Girl BB Cream.  It's cheap, contains sunscreen and evens out my skin tone without feeling "makeupy".  I wear it every single day under my Bare Minerals Foundation.  Love it!

Happy Wednesday, everyone!