Springing Back to Life
Our patio has gone through many iterations over the past 29 years. When we first moved in, we were poor. Our budget was tight so we had to be content with the grass and shadowbox fences with the neighbors. We knew we always wanted a patio and saved up for it. I want to say we paid $1200 for a paver patio. We picked out the huge 18"x18" slate look pavers from Lowe's and got a patio set that was an ambitious size. It was nice to have a space to relax outside and have a little flower bed where our pooch would happily walk up to smell the flowers. After a year or two of constantly having people catch our eye as they walked their dogs or themselves, we said it was time for a fence with a gate. I think it was around $700 back then. Damn those prices make me nostalgic! Over the years, we had various outdoor area rugs, curtains on the fences to cover gaps, tropical hibiscus trees during our Hawaii years to remind us of our second home. ...
That meal was like a lifeline after last night's paddle. I was so hungry after that. I have to say I am surprised but very proud that we paddle as long as we do because originally I figured I'd be happy just getting an hour in. I love that you like to explore coves and stuff. It's not always easy but it's a great way to work out and get outside and I love that!
ReplyDeleteThank you both for being an inspiration to me. I'm an emotional eater/food addict. I've made a lot of changes with my eating and activity level, and I don't self-medicate with food any longer, but the scale doesn't budge! It's extremely frustrating! You guys are awesome. I look forward to your posts. Thank you again!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're feeling at least a little better. Paddling yesterday sounds like it was fun. I don't do a lot of meals ahead, but I always like to have portioned baggies of pre-cooked shredded chicken in the freezer because I can do so many quick easy things with that. That actually reminds me that I need to throw a new batch in the crockpot soon.
ReplyDeleteFortunately my 4th was better than disappointing tv fireworks, although there have been years of that too. We've had a wet enough summer that we actually had a fireworks display here in town, so we went early to get a good parking spot and then waited until most people had gone so traffic wasn't too bad leaving either. Then the boy got to set off his fountains, sparklers, etc.
I have two meals that are my go-to that I just love. One is chicken tacos in the crock pot. I assemble the dry and wet ingredients and when I'm ready to go, pop them in the pot and I'm done. The other is my mom's/grandma's tomato soup with fine noodles. I've eaten this for 40 years and just made a batch this past weekend. I almost always have chopped onion and garlic ready to go because that's the thing that takes the most time. If I do it ahead of time, I can have this done in roughly 30 minutes. And it makes a ton so leftovers are guaranteed.
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