January 30, 2015

Friday I'm in Love


Happy Friday everyone!

I sure haven't done one of these posts in a while! I just have been over exhausted all month long and not inspired to do anything at night other than read books or watch movies. Not sure if it is the winter blues or my iron levels, because on top of that, I've been fighting away colds left and right. I'm forcing myself to get back on track and start working out again consistently.

This weekend, we're supposed to get lots of snow! We got a bunch last night and it isn't supposed to stop, so I'm hoping to get outside sledding and fort building with the kids! How about you all? Any fun plans for the weekend?

Fun finds:

A Roller Coaster Restaurant

A few weekends ago, our friends invited us to try out dinner in Nuremburg at a Roller Coaster restaurant called Baggers. At first I imagined there would be a roller coaster for us to ride on, but when we got there, what a fun surprise! The food comes down on roller coasters, winding through tunnels and towers and some even make loops!


It was pretty awesome! You are handed a little tablet device when you come in that you use to order your food, and a few minutes later, a cute little carrier comes down your table's roller coaster bringing drinks and food.

I checked out the reviews of the place on tripadvisor, and some people complained about the food, but honestly, you are not going there for the food experience, its all about the entertainment. The food was good, just not the healthiest options. We had such a good time, and so did our kids! Have any of you been to a place like this before in the states? I hadn't...

January 27, 2015

Valentine's Day Easy Project

Let’s welcome February with a fun and easy little decorating project, Valentine’s Day wall art.

If any of you are like me, once all the Christmas decorations are packed away, my house feels empty and the walls sparse.  My dining room walls and table tops were covered in green and red foliage from wreaths to poinsettias, and now they are so empty.  In an attempt to add a little fun décor for Valentine’s Day this year, and to fill the void on my dining room wall, I quickly spray painted some $2 dollar wood panels with my kids this weekend.

Supplies:
  • Thin wood boards/panels  that are the same size
  • Red Spray Paint
  • Painters Tape
  • Cardstock (to make the heart)
  • Hanging Clips
To make the hearts, take a piece of cardstock and fold in half. Draw half a heart on the fold, cut out, open up, and use the heart shape as a template for the wall art.  
For the outer boards, use painters tape to cover the edges of the board in order to make a natural frame.  Place double sided painters tape under the heart to make sure the heart stays natural colored.
For the center board, use painters tape to make the frame, and then add more tape to make an inner frame just inside the outer frame. Remove the outer frame tape for this board to make the frame red instead of natural wood.  Place painters tape to cover everything inside the frame, except the heart.  I used scissors to trim the tape edges next to the heart.  
Take the three boards outside and spray paint red.  Allow the paint to dry overnight.

The next day, peel away the tape to reveal your new wall art!

Now hang with little metal clips (I used curtain hangers from IKEA) on nails and enjoy your new décor!

January 8, 2015

Supertaster woes


Hello friends! So yesterday, I declared my goal of quitting all sodas for good! Well, it's going well, but I need a replacement for caffiene. I like tea, especially chai, but can't stand coffee. However, everyone I know drinks coffee, and with Frank making a pot every morning I am bound and determined to make myself like it.

Although I don't think Frank really believed me when I brought it up years ago when cringing over broccoli and coffee, I am a supertaster. Yup, a person with a whole lot more taste buds on my tongue than the average person. In fact, 20-30% of the population are supertasters! So, I am sure many of you all out there are as well and can identify! My super tasting ability unfortunatley makes me taste nasty bitterness in broccoli, spinach, and of course coffee as well as many other foods/drinks. I have forced myself to eat broccoli and spinach over the years, but I've never been a huge fan like Frank. He can eat broccoli totally raw. Crazy.

Back in my sophmore Biology class hundreds of years ago, my teacher tested us all using  a bitter chemical called 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) on a piece of litmus paper. I remember only 2 of us in the whole room hated the taste of it, and were were also the only 2 who hated coffee.

So, here I am all these years later and my taste buds still hate bitter foods. I tried a very weak latte today, and that I can handle. Pretty yummy.  The milk masks the bitter part quite well. Just don't want to always have to add milk! From my past experience with beer (I used to hate the bitter metallic taste), I know I'll be drinking it black after a few months of persistence.

How about you all? Any of you supertasters? Do you like coffee and how do you drink it if so?

January 7, 2015

Hello 2015!


Happy New Year!!! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We've been busy with family visiting and kids on holiday from school and it has been a glorious two weeks. Or "amazing" as Lily now likes to say.

So, did anyone make New Year Resolutions? I have in years past, but am not the best at falling through with my plans. I planned on taking family portaits once a month this year, and only did 4 times. I also planned on taking portraits of the kids every week! Failed on that one after about 2 months.  So this year, I didn't really plan on making formal resolutions, however, after watching "Fed Up" last night, I did.

1. Quit drinking Sodas of all kinds forever and ever. To include Diet cokes. I have been strangely addicted to diet cokes for a very long time, and the habit is a bad one that I have been wanting to quit for ages, but never commited.  Watching "Fed Up"gave me enough motivation to quit for good. So, hoping writing it on here will also help me keep it up.

2. Stay even more committed to our "Real Food" diet and cut down on the sugar intake even more. I hadn't realized that all sugars (to include honey) are processed by our bodies the same way, and thought if I used healthy sugars to bake etc, then we were still doing great. Not so. So, you'll probably be seeing a lot more interesting recipes from me as I experiment around.

That should do it for me this year.   How about you all? Did you make any resolutions? Did you stick through with your resolutions from last year?

Looking forward to the new year and every new day. Hello 2015!