Friday Favorites

Happy Friday Everyone!  It is a beautiful day and looks like it is going to be a beautiful weekend.  I can’t believe June is half way over – I need to start checking things off my summer bucket list.  Beach days, picnics, and berry picking all need to happen soon!

Friday is a day where I sometimes share some of my favorite things. Here are some things I’ve been enjoying lately:

1. Favorite Song – ‘Wild Child’ by Kenny Chesney with Grace Potter

I love this duo and this song.  I’ve been a Grace Potter fan for awhile and Kenny just keeps churning out the hits. How old is he anyways? Does he ever age?  Seems like he is the same as he was 20 years ago.

2. Favorite App – Ibotta

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I love a deal and while I’ve never been big on couponing, I am digging this app.  It is a cash back app so basically you buy certain products, take a pic of your receipt and get cash back.  Some of the items are brand specific but some are things I buy anyways like bananas or any brand yogurt.  If you have a smart phone and like this kind of thing, check it out!

3. Favorite Gardening Project- Trellis Garden

My talented husband built this trellis garden this year.  It has been really fun watching the progress that the vines make everyday.  We planted squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, and zucchini in hopes that they will grow up the trellis.  We have been patiently training them everyday.  We also transplanted a clematis and morning glory from another garden and they are growing like crazy.  The clematis already has a bloom!  I’ll have to do a full garden update soon.

    

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!  Happy Father’s Day to all those wonderful Dad’s out there!

Be Healthy, Be Happy!

Happy Summer Break! #breakyoumake

This month Chobani is urging America to take a break!  I wanted to take a moment  to talk about someone that is well deserving of a break.  My wonderful beautiful Mom is retiring from teaching this year so she is going to be on a well-deserved extended break.  Congrats on many years of teaching and making a difference in the lives of children, Mom! #breakyoumake

 

Also I wanted to say to ALL those teachers out there – enjoy your summer!  Thank you for all that you do.  Hope you can take some time and put your feet up and make your break the best!  #breakyoumake

Visit http://breakyoumake.com/ to see how everyone is else is taking a break this June.  Also, take advantage of a $1 coupon for Chobani Flips!

Be Happy, Be Healthy!

Honeydew Agua Fresca with Lime and Ginger

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Last summer I was all about watermelon mint agua frescas but this summer I’m ready to experiment a bit more.   This honeydew combination was a success!

Agua fresca is typically just fruit, water, and sugar blended together.  I find that most fruit does just fine without sugar especially if you add fresh flavors such as citrus and ginger.  Make this on a hot day and serve ice cold and you won’t regret it.

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Honey Dew Agua Fresca

Ingredients

3 cups honeydew, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon ginger

1 cup cold water

Blend together in a blender.  Serve over ice.  Can be stored in the fridge but it may separate a bit.  Just give it a stir before serving and you’re good to go.

Tip: An easy way to peel ginger is with a regular spoon.  Use the spoon’s edge to scrape the peel and it comes right off.

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Be Happy, Be Healthy!

 

52 Books in a Year Update #4

Yikes!  I’m going to have to pick up the pace if I want to make it to my goal of 52 books this year.  Hopefully this summer will include some lazy beach days where I can do a little catching up.  Here are the books I have finished lately.

8.  – This might be my favorite book so far this year which is surprising given the topic.  I started reading this without any clue about the plot or subject matter. I read a lot on my Kindle so I didn’t even really see the cover or read the back of the book.  I had just heard it was going to be made into a movie so that’s why I checked it out of the library.  It is set in the future and involves videogames which are two things that I would probably put at the bottom of my list of interests.  But I ended up loving it.  I couldn’t put it down!  I would recommend it to anyone looking for a real page turner.

9. by Anita Diamant – I enjoyed reading The Red Tent by the same author so I had high hopes for this book.  I would say I enjoyed it and it was easy to read but it wasn’t anything too exciting.

10. The Life Changing Method of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo – This book has been all over the internet lately.  It is a book about organization which I was hoping would help me calm the clutter in our house.  I haven’t gone through our house using her exact decluttering method but I plan to.  Her main message is that you should only keep things that cause you joy and everything else goes.  I took away some good tips but some of the suggestions were a little extreme.  I don’t think my life is changed after reading this book but it does make you think about possessions and clutter in a different light.

11. Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult – Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite authors.  I have read almost all her books and have enjoyed most of them.  This book did not disappoint.  It is about family living on an elephant santucuary and delves into elephant cognition.  The book isn’t completely about elephants and there are some great plot twists too.  This would be a great summer read!

Of course, I got totally sucked into the world of elephants and ended up adopting an elephant from a real-life sanctuary that is mentioned in the book.  The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee is a place for captive elephants that are rescued or retired from the circus or show business.  It is a natural habitat that isn’t open to the public so the elephants can roam free.

I adopted Tarra.  Isn’t she the cutest?

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If you have some time, check out The Elephant Sanctuary’s website: http://www.elephants.com.  You can read about all the elephants’ backstories (heartbreaking but with mostly happy endings!), check out the Elecam, or make a donation and feed an elephant for a day or adopt one like I did.   It looks like the sanctuary is doing an amazing job helping elephants live out their days in a safe and happy environment.

If you have any book recommendations, please leave them in the comments!

Past 52 Books Posts:

Update #1

Update #2

Update #3

Be Happy, Be Healthy!

 

Weekly Eats

This past week we had beautiful weather here in Michigan.  It felt like summer was right around the corner.  We took full advantage and have been grilling and eating outside as much as possible.  It seems like dinner is a little more special when it is eaten al fresco.  I thought I would share a couple of the meals we have been enjoying lately.

1. Grilled salmon, grilled bread with pesto, and roasted carrots with cumin and parsley

2. Steak fajitas and chips with guacamole.  Tip: marinate bell peppers and onions before grilling to get great flavor.

  

3. Grilled Pizzas.  A pesto potato for me and one for Derek.  I think it had jalapeno, olives, onions, and pepperoni.

  

4. Sesame chicken with two salads: Brussels sprout salad and arugula salad.  I used this chicken recipe for a crockpot but made it on the stovetop.

I hope you are able to enjoy some meals outside too!

Be Happy, Be Healthy!