For several years, we have used the Merlin Bird ID app to identify different birds while on our walks. This morning, I heard a different bird (from our usual robins and house sparrows), and it said it was a red-bellied woodpecker. I stepped out on the porch and quickly found the little guy on a tree in our front yard!
Days off together are uncommon and special, so Donald and I like to make the most of them when we can. This Thanksgiving day, Donald woke up before me and put on the America’s Thanksgiving Parade (from Detroit). I had mentioned that watching the parade(s) in the morning was a childhood tradition (and to this day, Mom still loves to watch the parade as she gets the Thanksgiving meal started).
We were running low on groceries (I need to grocery shop more routinely), but Donald was still able to make us coffee and a cheese omelet for breakfast.
We had a slow, peaceful morning watching the parade. It was fairly bright outside with some blue skies peeking through, so we opened the door to be able to enjoy the view from the couch. Even just our storm door was pretty good at keeping the cold out, which we were thankful for since it was in the upper 30s for a high today.
We got ready and headed over to Mom & Dad’s for Thanksgiving dinner. We got to nibble on crackers and cheese spread as an appetizer — I really love the Chicken in a Biscuit crackers with the sharp cheddar spread! While we were hanging out, we upgraded Dad to YouTube Premium, so he wouldn’t have to deal with ads any more. I think it was the best present we could have gotten him!
Dinner was ready just after 4 pm. It was a pretty typical Thanksgiving meal for us: roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole (although this year, the topping was a bit different – a pecan praline), low-carb Hawaiian rolls, asparagus, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, and stuffing.
After dinner, Mom washed the dishes and then read a book in the living room, Dad and Donald watched some YouTube videos of people playing guitar. A bit later, Clint, Donald and I played a round of Marvelous Heroes.
We left after midnight to head home, having filled our bellies and hearts with goodness. We are thankful for a lot of things, to be sure, but we are most thankful for the people in our lives. We hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving with friends and family as well!
Love, Jenn & Donald
The view we have all been waiting for! Our finished street view! We painted our house yellow earlier in the summer/fall and on Thursday the security door was installed. It’s a quite sturdy steel door, painted blue on the exterior and white on the interior. We also installed a new storm door with full view glass (so you can see the pretty deep blue color of the door more), and a built-in retractable screen. On those rare perfect spring/fall days where it’s warm out, but not hot enough to have the AC running, we would like to be able to open the house up to a nice cross breeze and some fresh air.
I think…. this means that we are finally ready for winter?! Pretty close to it! Donald is still feeling a bit under the weather, so once he has recovered from his cold, I’ll ask him to bring in the Christmas decorations from the garage and we will start decorating the house for the holidays!
How early do you start decorating? What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?
Love, Jenn & Donald
We had our first snow of the season today! It wasn’t too much, and it didn’t last very long, but I’m quite surprised that it waited until the third week in November! We’ve had a very mild autumn so far. This is what it looked like – just a dusting on top of the car.
Today, we had our front security door installed! It was a little bit chilly outside to have a gaping hole in the house, but we stayed in our offices and worked while Phil installed the door, and the rooms stayed fairly warm.
At this point, the door was held in place with these temporary pieces of wood, but it was starting to give us an idea of what the finished door would look like – so exciting!
And… HERE IT IS! There’s still some finishing touches left to be done (trimming off the foam that you can see on the bottom after it has set a bit), but it looks great! We’re very happy with the lever and lockset that we have selected as well! I didn’t think that the door would make that much of a difference to the feel of the living room, but I think that it looks like a whole new space! Donald is already thinking about other things we can do to update and decorate the room! (New ceiling fan? Crown moulding?)
It was a bit too dark outside once everything was finished (Grrr, Daylight Savings Time changes!), so I’ll take photos once it’s light outside again. Let us know what you think of the new door!
Love, Jenn & Donald!
We have had this plan for the front yard planting bed for quite a few months. However, with Michigan weather, you have to wait until sometime in May before the risk of overnight freezing goes away. Our plan was to do this as soon as we returned from our vacation out west, but we unfortunately fell sick and that derailed us just a bit as we rested and recovered.
Thankfully, Mom was bored in the house and in the house bored on Sunday, so she called us looking for something to do while Dad watched his races at home. We invited her over and the three of us headed to Telly’s Greenhouse – a local plant shop that we like.
We had a hard time sticking to just plants for the planting bed, as there were so many pretty and interesting plants, but I think we did a good job with our selections! We wanted to have plants of varying heights, and ended up with some grasses and dahlias for the back, cosmos for the middle layer, and some feathery plants and the little colorful ones (I’d have to look at the tags to see what they were) for the short layer up front.
Donald and my mom go to work weeding out the planting bed and getting the dirt ready. There were some existing plants: a couple hostas and my azalea bush. There were a few baby mums, but we transferred these to some pots and will re-home them to the back yard. They had me come out periodically to help determine plant placement. When they didn’t need me, I was inside playing Animal Crossing. My island had been neglected.
We love our plants! I’m so glad that Donald loves keeping our yard looking great! It was a lot of fun to pick these out together. Disclaimer: Yes, I know the house needs painting. We are going to try and get that done this summer.
These are a few photos of the final result! The flowers will continue to grow and get established, and I’ll try to remember to post some updates later on. Of course, as it happens, it decided to rain pretty hard just an hour or so after we finished planting. We checked on the plants in the morning, and – for the most part – they looked to have survived the deluge pretty well. Just the cosmos flowers were bent over.
Donald quickly stood them back up and packed some dirt around them before we headed over to Mom and Dad’s for a Memorial Day lunch. After getting back home, he used some of the posts we had from our foray into tomato growing to bolster the cosmos a bit until they could get a little stronger.
We think it looks a lot better and the pops of color and cute flowers make us smile whenever we see them!
Love, Jenn and Donald
Every year the Stage Nature Center in our city offers a Rent-A-Maple program, where — for a small fee — you can have a maple tree on the property tapped in your name. Last year, we just donated to the program and had our name on a tree, but didn’t sign up in time to do the tapping ourselves. This year, we put it on our calendar and signed up as soon as we were able!
Even though Donald has to work on Saturday afternoons, we figured that we could fit this into our morning. We made sure not to sleep in, had our coffee, and Donald made us eggs and toast for breakfast. Once we were fed and ready, we set out into the sunshine, blue skies, and cold weather (below freezing)!
We were met at the door by some of the Stage Nature Center docents/volunteers and quickly found our guides for the event. I was so surprised to see Sarah there! She was in training as one of the guides and happened to be assigned to Donald and me!
As we went from the main building to the staging area outside, our guide, Danielle, kept reminding us that we needed to get a bucket and a lid. Apparently, it was a common thing to forget, and they didn’t want to have to walk all the way to our tree, just to have to backtrack to pick up the bucket that our tree sap would collect in.
Donald made sure to grab them, and then commented on how he could use them to make himself some Mandalorian armor.
Once we found our tree (which already had a tag on it with our names), Danielle showed us how to use a brace hand crank drill to make a small hole in the tree, angled slightly downward, each of us taking a turn. We then used a nail to get the wood shavings out of the hole and sprayed some water in it. Donald then gently tapped the French cast iron spile into our new hole and I hung our bucket on the spile. Donald put the cover on the bucket and we were good to go!
For a quick outing, it was a lot of fun! We received a little goodie bag with some maple candies, a pint of maple syrup, candles, pancake mix, and a certificate for our “lease” of the maple tree. We grabbed a Starbucks on the way home, my parents stopped by for a visit and a surprise (more on that later!), and then it was time for Donald to start work.
We have another adventure planned for tomorrow, so keep an eye out for another post soon!
Happy Saturday from Jenn and Donald!
In the summer, Troy hosts a small farmers market near the Civic Center on Fridays from 11 am – 3 pm.
Since this was one of Donald’s days off, we stopped by on my lunch break.
We came home with a veggie peeler and grocery bag we won from a spin-the-wheel game, pea micro greens fettuccine, sugar snap peas, fresh garlic, a basil plant, and some cookies.
(The purple cauliflower was just pretty. We didn’t take it home with us.) 🙃📸
I’m at a loss as to the best way to keep track of recipes that I find and that we like. I rarely go on Pinterest, I find it difficult to remember what the recipe was like and if we enjoyed it if I just save a link to a recipe in a Google doc, sometimes recipes are online but sometimes they are in a book or magazine, and I often will make my own tweaks to recipes. How does a girl account for all of this?! (Seriously, if you have a good system, please share!)
Now that our kitchen is (mostly) complete, we are setting up some routines. Generally on Sundays, we will sit down and plan out our meals for the next week. As we go, I will add items that we need to our grocery list on the Kroger app (we found a Kroger that we like, although we still miss Publix). The app lets me see if there are deals on certain brands and clip digital coupons as I place items on my list.
We make sure to add items that we have run out of (milk, creamer, eggs – we are always running out of these!), as well as any snackies that we would like. We try to have our planners/calendars out during this time, so we can accommodate for days where we will be away from home or visiting family, etc. Next, we (lately Donald has been going with me) will go to Mass and stop by the grocery store after (it just makes sense with where things are located for us).
While making out our meal plan, I like to write it all down on a sheet I can post on the fridge. As you can see from this photo, some weeks have a lot of edits to the original plan. 😉
Below is a table of what we actually ate during the week. Probably more for our record-keeping/memories than anything, but feel free to take inspiration if something sounds yummy. 🙂
| Day | Breakfast | Lunch | Dinner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Sausage Croissant | Sandwich, chips & salsa | Chicken Taco Voila |
| Tuesday | PB Cap’n Crunch | Soup and sandwich | Hawaiian pizza, potato chips & french onion dip |
| Wednesday | Sausage/Greens/Tomato Omelet | Sandwich | Burritos, chips & salsa |
| Thursday | IDK | IDK | Spaghetti w/meat sauce, garlic bread |
| Friday | Eggy | 1/2 sandwich | Pepperoni pizza, salad |
| Saturday | IDK | Burgers, corn, baked beans | Beef stew |
| Sunday | Pancakes | Salad | Salmon, cheddar broccoli Rice-a-Roni, broccoli |
I’ve included links to any recipes I’ve used for that meal, as well as product links, in case you are interested in what brands we used (none of these are sponsored or ads – just what we happened to buy – we don’t get any money if you click on the links).
And, of course, this wouldn’t be one of my blog posts without some gratuitous photos…
Here you go! Yes, I am one of those people who likes to take pictures of my food before eating….
Father’s Day weekend started off deliciously! We slept in, then Donald treated us with the most amazing breakfast sandwiches. He basically make a sausage and cheese omelet that he put between two slices of toasted bread. Decadent and yummy! Even Acey wanted in on that action!
While we were finishing up breakfast, we could hear a great clattering outside … and traveling down our driveway. I knew what it was, but wanted to sustain the surprise for Donald. Once the delivery driver had left, we went out to take a look at his Father’s Day present: a new grill!
There was a whole SNAFU that happened (and which took most of the day to rectify), but by 3 pm, we had a brand-new, completely functional grill to use (and bellies full of Baskin Robbins sundaes)! Even better, we had already planned on having shish kebobs for dinner, so we had all the ingredients on hand! We made a quick stop at Mom & Dad’s to get a full propane tank, then Donald went to work!
The kebobs and grilled corn were delicious!
Another leisurely morning and another delicious breakfast! Today, Donald made for us our “classic” breakfast burritos and served it with our favorite salsa in all the world: Desert Pepper Cantina Salsa (red) in Medium. During breakfast, we made sure to call Donald’s dad, Jim, to wish him a Happy Father’s Day, as well as message a few other friends and family.
We went to the 12 pm Mass at St. Anastasia, then had lattes and pastries at Street Sweet Cafe. We borrowed a pen and paper and did our meal planning for the week. We challenged ourselves to stick to ONLY those items which we had added to the grocery list, then walked over to the Kroger Marketplace.
We have been trying for months to find a grocery store here in Troy that we like as much as we loved the Publix in Tallahassee, but it’s a very hard act to follow! We love our Publix! Maybe I’ll do another post some time about our grocery store experiences. Anyways…. We thought this one was pretty good and we may start shopping here more regularly.
We came home and put away the groceries, then took a few minutes to lay down and relax before heading to Mom & Dad’s to celebrate Father’s Day.
They also had shish kebab’s on the menu! But also taco salad, potato (with sweet potato!) salad, and hamburgers, with ice cream sandwiches for dessert.
We helped Dad take the picnic table and grill off the deck (so they could have it re-stained tomorrow) and picked up a few items Mom has been holding for us while our kitchen was under reconstruction. Too soon, it felt, it was time to head home so we could get ready for the work week.
ALAS! There was still some work for me to do before bedtime! Dishes, laundry, shower, insulin pump and CGM sensor change…. I didn’t actually get to bed until well after 12 am.
It was worth it, though! Such a nice weekend! I hope all of the fathers, would-be-fathers, step-fathers, foster fathers, father-figures, and all had a fantastic Father’s Day and felt the love and appreciation that we all have for the love and support and guidance you give your families each and every day!
To my Dad: I can’t possibly thank you enough for all of the wisdom, support, and love you have given Clint and I over the years. I will always strive to be someone you are proud of and I will always think that my Daddy knows about everything and can fix any problem. I love you!
To Jim: Thank you for raising a wonderful son! And thank you for all of your support and encouragement and guidance that you have given us both!
To Donald: Thank you for being the best father to our stuffed animals (Acey and Zoey) and our plant-kids (Buddy and Sport)! You make life a fun adventure every day!
To my priest-friends: Thank you for all of your prayers and love! Thank you for being amazing role-models and staunch supporters. I hope you find particular joy this Father’s Day!
And, as always, my gratitude and love to Jesus and God the Father Almighty. The very definition of “a good father.” 🙂
Every year, I like to do the Epiphany Home Blessing, a tradition in the Catholic Church.
Lord God of heaven and earth, you revealed your only-begotten Son to every nation by the guidance of a star. Bless this house and all who inhabit it. Fill us with the light of Christ, that our concern for others may reflect your love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
We weren’t in Michigan last Epiphany, so the last time the house was blessed was 2021. It would be superstitious to say that it’s because it wasn’t blessed in 2022 that we had pipes burst and have to undergo major reconstruction, but…. 😉
Today is the day we finally checked out of the hotel and moved back permanently into our house! Today, Donald also found the Epiphany Home Blessing card and chalk that we got from church. Together, we blessed the home for 2023.
We are so happy to finally be back home – really home! – and are looking forward to finding new local adventures!
Have a blessed day!
— Jenn & Donald
Paroxysm of Giggles / Critical Mass 