Ok blogger friends — Chris and I have decided to be serious about dropping some pounds.  We are too heavy (10-15 lbs) & want to look sexy for our cruise in September!  We are going to be joining the YMCA & working out on a consistent basis (I cannot WAIT for the pilates class!)  However, I’m hoping for some practical suggestions from you on meals. 

Cooked dinner/meals would be helpful – however, with our current schedule, we don’t cook much because of Chris’ late nights.  I’m really looking for quick meals? Like food while at work for lunch/breakfast – and some type of idea for me at dinner time while Chris is at work. 

What’s worked for you?  Would appreciate any suggestions — and if you have specific receipes, please email to summer.mccool@gmail.com

Thanks!

We all have good days and bad days – and in the midst of these days, we also have pretty amazing days.  Days that are sometimes indescribable.  No true words or descriptions can help you fully comprehend someone else’s amazing day, except to say ‘amazing.’Yesterday was one of those days for me.  Sunday, June 21st.  This day was going to be a day of 2 celebrations: first being Father’s Day – Chris’ 3^rd official year of celebrating this day.  Second being Morning Alone with God at Townlake with GP.  We began our Father’s Day celebration late Saturday night because I wanted Chris to open his gifts.  Thankfully I scored!  Yay for me.  He’s a hard guy to buy for.Sunday morning began early (for a Sunday) because we were meeting GP at an earlier time due to the outside heat.  A few months ago, we had decided to implement a Morning Alone with God concept.  This was something introduced to me via a friend Jeff Galley on my Eurotrain adventures.  I was a little excited/nervous about our Morning Alone with God, much like the feeling you get when you are going on a date.  The feeling of being unsure of how your time will be – will we connect – will we not?  Should I expect anything or just allow myself to ‘be’ with God?  How can I go into this hour with Him with no expectations, no action items, not begging for quick results?  When we got to Townlake, we met up with our friends to briefly go over how to go about this next ‘hour’ with God.  Some went for a jog/walk, some hung out by the lake, one stayed near her home (ON the lake!) and spent time out on Lake Travis.  For myself, I found a beautiful Joshua tree, plopped myself on the blanket, and plugged in my ipod.  I always like to start with Worship music in my quiet times because it helps me focus – takes away all random thoughts & lists I have going for the day – and allows me to concentrate.  I sat & looked at the most amazing Austin skyline and became so thankful Chris and I didn’t move out of Austin.  I love this city.  We are meant to be here.  I became overwhelmed with a sense of peace & happiness; my nervousness went away.  Images of friends that are spiritually searching began flashing through my mind – friends that I intentionally stay connected to because I love them & hope to provide opportunities for them to connect with God.  What does it mean to make disciples of Christ?  How do you know when a disciple is then making another disciple?  Success is not in numbers but in lives/conversations/journey’s.  This is a hard concept to fully grasp when my whole life it has been just the opposite.  Thankfully, this past year God has taught me (still is) that we are the body of Christ, the church – not a building to attend.  And the hope is not just to ‘invite’ people to a building, but invite people to into our lives.  And sometimes that’s pretty messy.  My hour under that tree went much too fast – and I was sad to see our small group gathering up at 11:15 am.  The quietness was growing on me – and I didn’t want it to end. Chris and I were able to enjoy a relaxing quick lunch afterwards before heading to pick up little love from Auntie Lena.We treated Chris to a movie (sorry babe, no Transformers until Wednesday…what a bummer….can you feel my sarcasm…).  After the movie, we had a little water sprinkler action in the backyard and at 4:00 pm, I realized our daughter had not napped! Yikes. Dinner was scheduled for 5:30, so I needed her to take a power nap, quick!  We ate at Lambert’s downtown…and I’ve just got to say – not a fan!  I’m not a big BBQ eater anyways…but even the salad I ordered…yuck.  I knew for sure I’d be eating cereal later for dinner J  I think Chris enjoyed his and Tatum was still half asleep…and of course, we were eating at the Senior Citizen time, so by 6:30 we were done.  Downtown was completely dead – all stores closed, so we enjoyed a nice little drive in the air conditioned truck.  On our way home, we stopped to buy Tatum her little swimming pool from Wal-Mart and spent the rest of the night swimming & sliding!  She’s so cute & getting so big.  And apparently very smart because she somehow told Amanda this morning that mommy is having a baby?  Very interesting.  Because as of today – I am not.  I was sad to see my weekend end – and dragging a little today at work.  Hence the reason I’m writing a personal blog…. Ha.  Chris’ bday week is this week – officially bday being Saturday!  We are headed up to Frisco to play with the Davis’ for Friday/Saturday – and we cannot wait! 

I stared at my fingernails all the way to work today — Man, I need a Mani.  Not to mention a Pedi as well.   I haven’t had a Pedicure since April!  My nails grow fast.

So our patio project is more than on its way to completion! Chris and I have been dreaming & talking about this day for YEARS. We used to have a beautiful backyard with green healthy grass when we first moved in – until our month long trip to Europe in 2005 – much grass DIED while away. And it’s taken us years to get grass to grow back there. Now with an energetic toddler that always wants to play ‘at-slide’, it was for sure time to do something drastic. Thankfully, we were able to give ourselves this reward due to our Dave Ramsey budget lifestyle. With paying off both our cars early this year – we thought, what a good reward to ourselves (and happy birthday and happy father’s day to Chris?) to build the patio – and then get back on Dave Ramsey envelope system track.

Thursday began Day 1. Chris ordered the rock, which was delivered the SAME DAY. What an overwhelming feeling. We began digging up dirt – we had so much space that was unleveled – and would require a lot of work to level out. Seems that it wouldn’t take long to do, but really takes almost an entire afternoon. By end of Day 1, we had outlined our area and dug up existing holes & grass & dug ¼ of the needed trench for the retaining wall (yes, everyone, I did this all by myself!) End time: 11:00 pm.

Friday began Day 2. Chris realized we needed more supplies, I forget which ones…sand maybe? While Tatum napped, Chris finished up the trench for the rest of the retaining wall & laid 3 levels of brick & mortar on the right side of the patio. Sergio & Mike (Amanda’s dad) stopped by to see our progress & give thoughts. They had built a similar patio last year. We were on the right track for the most part (and doing ok for rookies), so that was a confidence boost. We grabbed a quick dinner after I got home from work & got right to work. By 10:30 pm, we had finished most of the 3 layers of retaining wall & called it a night.

Saturday began Day 3. Again, we needed a few more supplies! We headed to Dripping Springs & the guy gave us the rest of the rock for free (it was a very little amount, so nice of him). We spent the majority of the afternoon leveling out dirt (with Chris making more trips than I can count to pick up dirt from a nearby area of ‘public dirt). I’m totally forgetting now what happened because my days are running together.

By the late afternoon, we knew we were ready to begin the next process of adding the layers of sand, then sand/cement mix before laying the rocks. This is where Russell Boyd’s wisdom (and Ileah’s vocal direction) came in to save the day! RB has experience with this sort of project and they volunteered their Saturday night to our backyard. A shock & super nice surprise.

Ileah, Tatum, and I went to buy 1,400 lbs of sad (20 bags, 70lb each) at Home Depot. When we returned, the guys were playing Tetris with the rocks – so I jumped in, and Ileah brought back each bag of sand, 1 by 1, on a wheel barrel. Strong chic. By 11:00 pm, we had layered ¼ of the patio with dirt, then sand, then sand/cement mix, then ROCK! We watered & let it set for the night. Our patio was actually coming together and making sense.

Sunday began Day 4. The morning time we had reserved for house church – several random occurrences happened with a few of our friends, so the morning ended up being extremely relaxing with us cleaning the house (yes, it was a disaster, the cleanliness felt soooo nice). Chris needed (again) to go get more sand & dirt, and I was not feeling the best. Tatum and I napped while Chris did his thing.

I jumped back in the game at 4:00 pm ready to get our next section completed before the weekend ended. I had really hoped that the whole patio would be completed by Sunday night – but with all the work it takes to do one of these suckers, I knew that was an unrealistic expectation. Chris and I put about 18 buckets (is that right?) of dirt on our 2nd section and I began leveling out with a rake.

RB & Ileah showed up a little bit later, just in time for us to lay the layer of sand. I never thought it’d take 6 hours to lay sand, level out, then lay sand/cement mix, level it out, and then begin putting rocks back in. Adjusting the rocks so that they are level is what takes so much work. But by 10:30 pm – section two was watered & completed!

For some reason, I was not able to sleep! You’d think I’d be more than exhausted by this time. Maybe my mind was in patio mode. I honestly contemplated staying up to watch Mall Cop that Nicole had brought over, but I knew Chris was ready for bed. I think by 1:00 am, I was fast asleep.

So, hopefully next Saturday will be the day that it’s completed! We have 1 more section to add dirt (literally tons of dirt), sand, mix, and then readjust the rocks. Can’t wait to have a BBQ so we all can enjoy it together! PS – I did not wash my hair since yesterday (but yes, I have showered), and it is so disgusting today. Even in a pony tail.