quick and easy dinner and dessert!

dinner
ground chicken (or chopped chicken breast)
any dressing/marinade (our new favorite: roasted red pepper vinigrette)
whole wheat pasta
garlic
onions
tomatoes
any other veggies wanted
salt and pepper

cook chicken in skillet
put in bag/tupperware with marinade (freeze or refrigerate until day of use)
cook pasta and drain
return pasta to pan and add chicken marinade and veggies (and some extra marinade...)
warm all together for 10ish minutes

easy and delicious!
we served ours with a side of asparagus which we are currently addicted to this summer

bonus: great recipe cause 1/2 of it can be made ahead of time and stocked up in the freezer!


dessert
1 can crescent rolls
chocolate chips
melted butter
egg white
cinnamon/sugar mix

roll out the crescent rolls on a pan and brush with melted butter
fill with chocolate chips and roll back up
brush tops with egg white/water mixture and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top
bake at 375 for 15 minutes

DELICIOUS! i just got these out of the oven and i'm pretty sure they'll all be gone by tonight...
can make them with peanut butter and chocolate, or add some marshmellow creme to the chocolate crescents for a smore! thanks kim!!!
i made some with chocolate and some with butterscotch chips :)


bonus: can be used for breakfast, snack, or dessert

the summer in numbers

My crazy summer:

16 hours of labor without medication
4 1/2 days in the hospital
1 precious baby girl that is my daughter!!!
6 hours in a graduate class with a 4 week old
43 tupperwares of baby food made and frozen (peaches, green beans, squash, carrots, and peas&carrots)
24 jars of salsa canned from the goodies in our garden
1 bushel of peaches pitted, peeled and canned for winter
5 lbs of frozen blueberries
7+ weeks of not having to cook any meals for ourselves!
2 grandma's that will care for Mylin as I finish school
12 credits left until I have my Master's in Counseling
4 long car trips to meet (for Mylin) and visit (for Joel and Rachel) family and friends in IN, MI, and OH
countless visits and presents from friends and family
handfuls of times rolling from tummy to back (Mylin, not us, we've been doing that for years...)
millions of sweet smiles from our baby girl

1 amazing, loving, and serving husband who has made this whole experience of motherhood more enjoyable and exciting than I ever could have imagined!

cycling/spinning

today i went to a spinning (cycling) class at our local gym/workout placething
i went with a girlfriend of mine who also had a baby girl in june
we signed up for a 3 month aerobic package and are trying to go spinning twice a week to help melt off the excess baby weight!!!

day 1: can't remember the last time i sweat this much and my undercarriage is SORE from 'riding' a bike again (we all know this feeling...) but i felt great afterwards!
plus, because the class is at 5:15am, when i get home shortly after 6 and showered up i am able to spend some one-on-one time with joel which is hard to come by these days

wish me luck!
i have 7 lbs to go in about 5 weeks before my goal of being back at pre-baby weight by my birthday!

look what's blooming at our house...

seriously. how cute is she?!

and how cute is that adorable headband?!?!

contentment

i have been struggling with finding contentment in my daily life
a lot of my time is spent with miss mylin - which i enjoy!

however, when i'm nursing her, i'm thinking about whether she'll fall asleep, how long will she stay asleep, what can i do while she's sleeping, and if i can get a chance to sleep some too...
then while she's sleeping i'm worrying about what time she'll wake up, how long she will eat, if i can manage to eat at the same time, if i can leisurely read while nursing her, or if i'm just going to continue through the will&grace series like i have been...
when i'm away i'm wondering if she's crying, hungry, gassy, sleeping peacefully at home with daddy or at our parents houses...

all of this to say is that i am not being fully present in the moment of my day - i'm always looking one (or seven) steps ahead instead of finding contentment in the nursing, the napping, the chores, and the time away

any advice or suggestions?!